Finished up work and went out to ride. Ran into a group of Ski + Ride School supervisors and spent an hour riding with them and taking lots of pictures.

Got up early and drove down to Albany for a UPA Coaching Clinic. Interesting at times, kinda repetitive at others. Fortunately there was a lot of information covered and not too much group activity crap.

This was the first time that i ran since hurting my knee at Santa Fe and i discovered that it did indeed hurt to run (snowboarding doesn't hurt it at all). So i decided that i'd better go see a doctor about it.

I called up the Ludlow Health Clinic and they had a slot available in the afternoon, so i went in and the doctor said that it was probably a partial tear on the MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) on my right knee. He referred me to an orthopaedic clinic in Rutland.

That evening Scott Clarkson, the head of Marketing at Okemo, called me up and asked if i could get up stupidly early the next morning and shoot pictures of the sunrise over Okemo.

Got up early and drove up a dirt road, then hiked about a mile along a VAST trail (in the dark with a headlamp) to arrive at an overlook, where i set up my tripod and took pictures, some at 30-second exposures.

Scott wanted me to get the orange glow of sunrise on the mountain and i discovered that that orange glow lasts for about a minute and a half. I was out there for an hour or so, then drove around Ludlow for a bit and took some more pictures of the mountain. The one of the Clock Tower Base Area was taken with a zoom lens from South Hill road.

When i downloaded the pictures onto my computer, i noticed that the dirt spots on my camera's sensor were getting numerous and bad. Scott called again in the afternoon and asked if i could take some more pictures from the summit the next morning, so i called the guys at Reflex Photography (the on-hill photo people) and took my camera over to them and we spent a while cleaning off the sensor.

Once i got the sensor cleaned, i called over to the snowboard meeting area and got ahold of Gordon. I told him that i needed a skier and snowboarder to meet me at the maintenance garage at 6:00 AM for a photo shoot. He asked a couple people nearby and told me that i'd have one of each there in the morning.

Got up early again, but not quite as early, got my snowboard gear, and drove up to the maintenance barn. Russ Kauff and Robert Senn showed up and we all got rides up to the summit with the groomers. No one had informed them that we were supposed to be shuttled to the top, but they were happy to take us.

Russ, Robbie, and i spent a good hour or so making our way down the slope, taking pictures. It was dead calm and really quiet and we were all enjoying the solitude of the slopes.

Went to Vermont Orthopaedics in Rutland. I had x-rays taken of my knee, which is the first time i've ever had anything other than my teeth x-rayed. The doctor confirmed that i did indeed have a partial tear on my MCL. He said that i should just not over exert it and it should heal, very slowly, in a couple months.

Spent most of my work day today out on the slopes tagging along with a video shoot of the Mountain Ambassadors. After the shoot, i slid around the base area for a while, taking pictures of instructors (and me sliding over the butter box), then Gary Caviness took some pictures of me in the halfpipe. I wasn't getting out of it as high as i could have, but i was at least out.

After i got back to the signshop, my friends Cara and Matt (and Cara's brother) stopped by. They'd been out skiing and riding that day but we hadn't run into each other.

Hug 21: Charlotte Grant

I went shopping and when i got home, my housemate Paul had packed up and moved out. I knew that he was leaving this week.

Okemo employee party this evening. Bad pizza, uninspiring band, i didn't win anything.