Falcon Trails is a great place to spend a few days. Right now the snow isgreat, the trails have no rocks and the race at the end of the month willhave great conditions. Guy Smiley and his partner, principals in the resortwhose kids have all raced and still compete in biathlon, groom all of theski trails at Falcon Trails so the guests, their kids, their friends andski-loving public can use them. Did you know that they get paid nothing tomaintain those trails? The grooming is an attraction for people to use thearea. Guy Smiley does a pretty good job of it, for nothing. Guy Smiley is a prettysmart guy as well, with a true understanding of nature and theinterrelationships of species and their environments: he’s been throughuniversity studying entomology. This is his backyard and he is therecognized custodian of it. However there would appear to be at least oneindividual who would be ignorant to this and unwilling to listen and learn.
My family and I had the super pleasure of being guests of these excellent people overthe holidays at Falcon Trails and on one morning Guy Smiley said that “somethingfunny” happened to him the other day. He was on the High Lake trailworking, which meant that he was on his snow machine hauling supplies out tothe Eco Cabins for guests, when he was met by a skier. Well, this skier wasvery upset with Guy Smiley, a snowmobiler on the trails. Guy Smiley, a calm quietman, began explaining to this skier who he was and what he was doing but hewould have none of this and got madder yet. So mad in fact that he wasgoing to teach this joyriding snowmobiler a lesson: he yanked the key fromGuy Smiley’s machine and sped off, leaving Guy Smiley stranded and dumbfounded. A fewthings ran through Guy Smiley’s mind: murder perhaps, how will I finish my day’swork now, and how long a walk is it out of here (good thing it wasn’t toocold that day). A stroke of luck, one of his staff came by on another snowmachine (working too) and Guy Smiley sent him off to get the guy. He caught upto the perpetrator in the parking lot as he got into his truck and took off,with Guy Smiley’s keys. Guy Smiley wanted-needed the keys so he called the RCMP. Thecops caught the bum on the highway and got the keys back. Unfortunatelythey couldn’t lay charges on yanking only keys but they looked hard butunsuccessfully for a reason. Police have tried for centuries to charge foridiocy but it just isn’t part of the Criminal Code. The guy got off.
So Idiot, if you are reading this, I believe that you owe someone an apology and the next time you ski for free somewhere, or even someplace that youhave actually paid a trail fee (which I doubt… I think you’re one of the Windsor Park fence hoppers) remember that you are a guest in somebody’sbackyard and someone else has prepared the surface you are enjoying forlittle if not zero remuneration anywhere. Needless to say don’t bothershowing up at Falcon again: Guy Smiley’s Skandic is tiny compared to his othermachines. Besides, the ditches are full of snow and cost nothing to ski intoo. Skiers reading this please spread the story just in case the Idiot isn’t reading this, so that somehow the message gets back to him: we’re a smallcommunity.
Everybody! Please remember: we are always skiing in someone’s backyard. Respect their rules and what they have to say. Keep you mouth shut andlisten: you never know with whom you’re dealing with. Put $10 into everytrail donation box you go past: the woodland elves and animals don’t comeout after each snowfall to wave their magic wands. Individuals like Guy Smiley and Birch Crew and Jeff and Phil and DNR do it. Thank them for it tooand tell them they’ve done a good job. It’s not an easy one.
My family and I had the super pleasure of being guests of these excellent people overthe holidays at Falcon Trails and on one morning Guy Smiley said that “somethingfunny” happened to him the other day. He was on the High Lake trailworking, which meant that he was on his snow machine hauling supplies out tothe Eco Cabins for guests, when he was met by a skier. Well, this skier wasvery upset with Guy Smiley, a snowmobiler on the trails. Guy Smiley, a calm quietman, began explaining to this skier who he was and what he was doing but hewould have none of this and got madder yet. So mad in fact that he wasgoing to teach this joyriding snowmobiler a lesson: he yanked the key fromGuy Smiley’s machine and sped off, leaving Guy Smiley stranded and dumbfounded. A fewthings ran through Guy Smiley’s mind: murder perhaps, how will I finish my day’swork now, and how long a walk is it out of here (good thing it wasn’t toocold that day). A stroke of luck, one of his staff came by on another snowmachine (working too) and Guy Smiley sent him off to get the guy. He caught upto the perpetrator in the parking lot as he got into his truck and took off,with Guy Smiley’s keys. Guy Smiley wanted-needed the keys so he called the RCMP. Thecops caught the bum on the highway and got the keys back. Unfortunatelythey couldn’t lay charges on yanking only keys but they looked hard butunsuccessfully for a reason. Police have tried for centuries to charge foridiocy but it just isn’t part of the Criminal Code. The guy got off.
So Idiot, if you are reading this, I believe that you owe someone an apology and the next time you ski for free somewhere, or even someplace that youhave actually paid a trail fee (which I doubt… I think you’re one of the Windsor Park fence hoppers) remember that you are a guest in somebody’sbackyard and someone else has prepared the surface you are enjoying forlittle if not zero remuneration anywhere. Needless to say don’t bothershowing up at Falcon again: Guy Smiley’s Skandic is tiny compared to his othermachines. Besides, the ditches are full of snow and cost nothing to ski intoo. Skiers reading this please spread the story just in case the Idiot isn’t reading this, so that somehow the message gets back to him: we’re a smallcommunity.
Everybody! Please remember: we are always skiing in someone’s backyard. Respect their rules and what they have to say. Keep you mouth shut andlisten: you never know with whom you’re dealing with. Put $10 into everytrail donation box you go past: the woodland elves and animals don’t comeout after each snowfall to wave their magic wands. Individuals like Guy Smiley and Birch Crew and Jeff and Phil and DNR do it. Thank them for it tooand tell them they’ve done a good job. It’s not an easy one.
- Autonomous Skier
Bottom Line:
As you might already know snowmobiles have been carving up the ski trails along the boundary at Birch. What you might be of news to you however, is that during the hunting season these ‘gentlemen’ illegally hunt on their land. For the last 10 years I have been cross country running out at Birch in the transition period when the mountain bike season is finished and there is not enough snow for skiing. I suck as at running, however other then spending time with my family, racing my bike and skiing, cross country running is my favorite thing to do. I had a long talk with one of the owners this year. He let me know in no uncertain terms that running on his land in the fall was extremely risky as I might get myself killed. I took this to heart, and for the first time in many years stayed home. I have had very unpleasant ‘experiences’ with snowmobilers and ATV’s in the past, and will definitely go out of my way to avoid another confrontation in the future.
Is this right? What can we do about this?
oh my gosh! are you f-en serious! wow. taking someone's keys then he drove away...that is kind of well....kind of normal for the green thumpers these days it seems. man oh man.
ReplyDeleteas for the hunters. it is not fair. our family hunts and the rule is you only hunt when it is agreed and the terms are worked out. (aka you tell the people what time you are hunting in what area and you give them your cell number). how could you not respect the land? Are these the same people with big fences who use to yell at us as kids when we ran across their perfect lawns?
crazy!