I thought the rest of my ski season was in jeopardy.

I have a policy, I never ski a run right after they drop the rope, right after they open it for the first time that season. Because of what’s hidden underneath. The untracked snow looks so appealing. But I skied Ben’s Face the morning it opened about fifteen years ago, it looked so perfect this early December day. And it was pretty good until… I was at the absolute bottom of the run, where it meets the road, and suddenly my skis stopped instantly, and I was thrust forward in a complete somersault. Thank god the bindings released.

Upon investigation I found it was a water bar. This is a regular feature at ski areas, gullies to drain off the water from the melting snow, so it doesn’t take the rest of the slope with it. I never knew there was a water bar there, because I’d never skied Ben’s Face with so little snow.

They dropped the rope on the Big Burn at Snowmass and Dread couldn’t resist. He hit a submerged rock and…bottom line is he ended up with a concussion, a serious one.

So when Strasburg told me they’d opened Cookshack back in December, I said no, despite him testifying how great it was. First and foremost, I didn’t think it was even open, I thought people were poaching runs. This is a no-no in Utah. You can be skiing and on the other side of the rope it is pristine powder. But if you go over there, you’re gonna lose your pass, because there’s so much avalanche danger. But there’s not that much avalanche danger in Vail, and they preach about pulling passes for these violations, but I’ve never seen them do it. (Meanwhile, it turned out Cookshack was still officially closed.)

Now it’s the worst snow year in the history of records, which in Vail only go back to 1987. Right now we’re sitting at 48% of average. Now the truth is there was one winter worse, which I remember and seemingly no one else does, the winter of 76-77. I was contemplating dropping out of law school and returning to Snowbird but my friends said not to come, that there was no snow, the ski areas weren’t even open, they were departing for their parents’ places over the holiday.

But recently, the “Salt Lake Tribune” weighed in, setting the record straight:

“This ski season isn’t Utah’s worst. Here’s what was”

https://apple.news/A-ekRvrYsQJClRVA51yMGeQ

But as bad as it is in Colorado this year, at Vail it’s even worse. You see more than a third of the ski area faces south, the “Legendary Back Bowls,” and you can’t get to the final third, Blue Sky Basin, unless the Bowls are open. Meaning more than two-thirds of Vail has been closed all season. The Back Bowls have never not opened before February.

Until this year.

It’s a business. And business is off. The word has gotten out. There’s no snow.

Now skiing on Wednesday, at the top of Sourdough, I saw that chairs 21 and 36 in the Back Bowls were running. No one was on them, the slopes were untracked, but this made me wonder, were they going to be opened?

Made no sense, because you can see dirt and bushes everywhere in the Back Bowls. And the ski patrol went on record that they were not going to open them until there was another foot of snow, and we’re still 6″ shy.

But the following morning, yesterday, on Instagram, there was a post that the Bowls were open!

Let me be clear, very little was open, but the headlines had publicity value. One can argue the Back Bowls are the most legendary skiing in America. Sure, there are difficult couloirs, like Corbet’s in Jackson Hole, and KT22 at Squaw Valley has unending pitch, but those are only for experts. Although they rate the Back Bowls almost totally expert, the truth is they’re not that steep. Furthermore, south of the border, there are no bowls like this. They’ve got ’em at Whistler, and in Europe, but in the States? If you want wide open bowl skiing, seven miles in length, Vail is the place.

But they were only opening three runs in the back. The Poppyfields East and West and a bit of Yonder in Sun Up Bowl…

As for Blue Sky… There was one run available from the top, Big Rock Park, and when you skied down that to Pete’s Express…the slopes off that lift were open.

Now let me tell you, riding Skyline, the lift up Blue Sky, was jaw-dropping. I’ve never seen so much growth poking up through the snow, of course it was all closed.

As for Big Rock Park,  let’s just say the road over there and the slope itself were a giant clusterf*ck. Everybody was back there, amateurs included, just so they could say they’d been.

As for the legendary gully at the bottom of Big Rock Park…essentially unskiable. Rocks and moguls. I had to traverse high up on the wall in order to get through, and I still had to avoid giant rocks.

As for Pete’s Express… I’d read the map wrong, I thought the Star was groomed, they alternate between that and Grand Review every day. There were so many people up there, unpredictable newbies…better skiers hew to a rhythm,…that I just blasted ahead and didn’t stop, I saw openings amongst the pedestrians, yes, many people were stopped, they find ungroomed slopes a challenge, and made it down to the road to escape.

Actually, that run on the Star was pretty great. But was it worth it?

NO!

Here’s where we get to the heart of the matter.

You see the lifts in Blue Sky close early, because it takes so long for people to work their way back from there to the front. The lifts on the front close at 3:30. Skyline closes at 2:30. Pete’s closes at 2:15.

Felice had peeled off at the base of Gondola One, at the true bottom of Vail, and I got on the lift and started to calculate, could I make it to Pete’s?

It would be close, but I figured I’d get there just under the wire, which I did, at 2:12, as the ski patrol was unfurling the red closed banner, literally.

Which meant I had to book it, bomb…which was no problem, the Poppyfields are not that steep, they’re two of only three blue runs in the Back Bowls (blue is intermediate, black is expert, the Back Bowls are almost all black not because every lick of them is that difficult, but if you rate something blue, the amateurs will dive in. As it is, the problem is already significant. People who can barely ski being stuck in the Back Bowls.

Anyway, the Poppyfields West are completely baked out. Slush. Because as I said above, the Bowls face south, which means the sun hits them directly, and the snow melts.

And the Poppyfields start off wide open, then you can ski to the left of trees to avoid the hordes, but then you meet them again just before a slight face and then…there’s an endless road to the base of the Orient Express, lift 21.

And when I turn the corner at the end of the road, and cross under the lift, all I can see is an endless scrum of people at the junction, where either you can turn back to Orient or take the road to Blue Sky Basin. Everybody was in this area, because the final face to the lift was closed…like I said, they only opened the Poppyfields so you could get to Blue Sky Basin.

So, there’s a big wooden fence. High, the snow never covers it. In front of it is the short path back to the base of the Orient Express. Behind it is the road to Blue Sky Basin.

Now there were no openings at all. The road was completely jammed up with people, nobody moving. But at the corner of the fence, there were a few feet of snow that were unpopulated.

And at this point, I know Vail like the back of my hand. At this specific spot oftentimes there’s a giant exposed rock. But if there’s enough snow, it is covered. And since it was the first day this slope was opened, I figured there was enough snow, it hadn’t been scraped away.

And not only is there this rock to consider, oftentimes there’s a huge bare area on the other side of the ridge, where you meet the road. However, if there is a bare spot, the ski patrol puts up red bamboo poles in an X, preventing skiers from going there.

But there were no X’ed poles.

So this would work out just fine. I’d cut the corner, turn sharply, avoid the ski instructor with his two clients, and then continue my run to Blue Sky Basin.

And everything was perfect until…

There was no rock…

But there was a giant bare spot.

And a three foot drop.

And you had to clear another four or five feet of grass until you hit snow.

So suddenly I’m in the air…

If I go straight, I’m going to hit the instructor and his pupils, and that is truly a no-no at Vail, I will lose my pass for sure.

So I pull up my skis so I don’t land on the bare spot, which will be an utter disaster, and while I’m up there, I turn my skis sideways, so when I land I will stop immediately, as my skis will be across the slope, and thus I will not hit the instructor and his people.

Now if you watch any ski jumping, you know that every hill has a limit, you don’t want to out-jump it.

Or maybe you know more about freestyle skiing, and its jumps. You’ll see skiers or snowboarders in the park, with these giant jumps and you’ll notice there’s a good-sized gap between the lip and the landing area. This is flat. You don’t want to land here. Never ever. Because of the COMPRESSION! Talk about being jammed up and jelly tight.

So I come down from the sky, and BAM! The jolt that goes up my spine is like being hit on the head with a sledgehammer. And to avoid the ski instructor and his students I have to stop dead, so I have to plant my ass as part of this process.

And I achieve my goal, I land and stop nearly instantly, I’m not so close that the ski instructor freaks out, but he does stop on a dime and ask me how I am and I sheepishly say I’m fine, BUT AM I??

This is how you create herniated disks. I know, because I’ve done it. The disks are compressed and the gel inside oozes out and hits the nerve and it’s like your body is on fire, FROM THE INSIDE!

You can have surgery, and in some cases wait it out, for it to return to normal, but one thing is for sure, you’re going to be laid up for MONTHS!

I get up on my skis and I’m not in excruciating pain. My butt cheek hurts, and my back ain’t great, but there’s no pain beneath my waist, which is the telling sign of a herniated disk.

So I ski off and…my mind is a million miles away. My life, or at least the next six months, is flashing in my brain. I knew there was still little snow, but I was jonesing sitting on my bottom in L.A., so I’d come back out. I’d broken my policy of skiing slopes the day the rope had dropped, but there’d been so many skiers and the snow was packed and…

After slaloming between the unpredictable amateurs I got on the Skyline Express and contemplated my life. I thought of when I tore up my shoulder, slipping on the ice walking TO GO skiing! My shrink wasn’t overly concerned. It was just the nature of life. I’m not the only person who needed rotator cuff surgery, they it did on a regular basis, I’d come out the other side. And that’s what I was telling myself as I rode the lift. If this is the end, I’ll cope. Or will I?

And then I realize I’m not exactly in shock, but I’m far from normal, and when you’re in this headspace, detached, is when you actually get injured skiing. So I had to focus and…

I had no sharp pain.

I mean I wasn’t pain-free, but I’ve been injured, you know it when it happens, you can feel it.

So I skied that run on Pete’s and then went back to the Orient Express to ski the Poppyfields East, which you can only reach from the top of that lift, it looked better than the Poppyfields West I’d skied previously.

And the lift is interminable, but the slope was pretty good.

And the two Poppyfields merge into one, and you take that long road back to the lift, to the corner, to the site of my…I don’t know what to call it, my accident? And just where I’d skied, where I’d gotten into all that trouble… The slope looked identical, but now there was a big red bamboo pole preventing people from skiing there, warning them off.

P.S. I skied some more to prove that I could, that I was okay. But a lot of times, the pain doesn’t manifest itself until you wake up the next day. So I was in a holding pattern. I took an Epsom salts bath, which the guy in the ski shop said might help. You’ve got to sit there for at least fifteen minutes, next time I’ll take reading material.

And my upper spine was not good. But I’d been able to use my poles the rest of the day.

And on either side of the back of my waist…there were aches.

And the lower spine, it was buzzing, not horribly, but it was speaking to me, saying it was jammed, wondering why in the hell I did this to it.

Now in the middle of the night, my lower back was worse.

But I woke up and… I wasn’t pain free, I had aches, but nothing was sharp. Movement was not limited. So I won’t say I started to smile, but my mood did improve.

And it’s like the circus, you have to get right back on the horse, so after reading the paper and eating my coffee yogurt, I suited up, put on my boots, walked out to get my skis, got on the gondola, and from there to Chair 3 and at the very top…I didn’t feel that bad.

So we went over to ski Dealer’s Choice and at first I felt a little off, just a little stiff, but halfway down I was back in the groove and I realized…

I’d survived.

Her latest album is entitled “Personal History,” which is what you get in this podcast!

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mary-chapin-carpenter/id1316200737?i=1000748358676

https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9ff4fb19-54d4-41ae-ae7a-8a6f8d3dafa8/episodes/4e198b02-022b-4b12-85d2-91a55380dc0a/the-bob-lefsetz-podcast-mary-chapin-carpenter

I hate oral histories.

But I love “Venus and Mars.”

“McCartney” was unduly slagged because it came out nearly simultaneously with “Let It Be.” People thought Paul was employing first mover advantage, making a statement, separating himself from the group even though it was John who said he was out of the band first.

Yes, Paul goes on record about that here.

There’s more than “Maybe I’m Amazed” on Paul’s solo debut. Go back to “Every Night” and “That Would Be Something,” there’s no one on the planet who can equal the sparse sound and mood of these tracks, and while I’m at it I’ll add in “Junk” and “Teddy Boy” too. Even “Kreen-Akrore.” If you can slow down enough to listen to “McCartney,” hopefully on a system that can render its sonic quality, you will be amazed.

As for “Ram”… I cottoned to it decades later, but it was obvious and in your face in a way that “McCartney” was not. I always liked “Too Many People,” but I don’t think I ever need to hear “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” ever again, it was played into the ground back in the seventies. Maybe the first twenty five times it was okay, but after that… “Monkberry Moon Delight”? Sounds good, but ultimately too light. However, in this book the derivation of this song is explained. The last song rocks, “The Back Seat of My Car,” but overall “Ram” was evidence of the naysayers’ take on Paul, that he was too lightweight, there was not soul-searching depth, which John Lennon provided.

As for Wings’ debut, “Wild Life,” the less said the better. Even though this book says that people have come to it, I don’t know anyone who has. This was a dud when it was released back in ’71 and it still is. That’s a good idea, dash off a record with no hits, no tracks that stick in your brain, it’s a failed experiment, done quickly and forgotten just about as fast.

However “Red Rose Speedway”…

You find out why it was called that, even better, you find out the history of “Power Cut.” On that pop-up van tour, Wings’ first, there were issues with power in the U.K. Miners on strike, Maggie Thatcher sticking it to them… Funnily enough, this period comes up constantly in English TV, but in the pre-internet era, the blackouts just didn’t penetrate the U.S.

But “Red Rose Speedway” does include “My Love,” an execrable piece of crap. Once was enough on this one, pure schmaltz. But this book goes on ad infinitum lauding it.

However…

“Red Rose Speedway” starts off with “Big Barn Bed,” which is the kind of track you hear once and then jones for, turning the dial, hoping some station will play it again. It was never a single, it’s not unknown, but not everybody knows it. It’s exuberant, it’s got McCartney’s patented tossed-off vocals and a finish with harmonies… I’ve never burned out on “Big Barn Bed,” it’s a stone cold classic in my world.

And then came “Band on the Run.”

No one expected it. The last hit was “My Love.” And the recent albums were uneven at best. But “Rolling Stone” named it one of the best of the year just after it came out, at the end of the year. “Helen Wheels” had gotten airplay, but nothing else from “Band on the Run” made it to the airwaves for months. So “Band on the Run,” the opening track, was a secret. You dropped the needle and reveled. And “Let Me Roll It,” at the end of side one, was a perfect companion to “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” at the end of side one of “Abbey Road.” Both extended numbers that twist your guts, in a good way, that take you away from everyday life.

But how do you follow up a stone cold smash? An album with no filler, a complete surprise considering what came before…it’s nearly impossible to do. But then came “Venus and Mars.”

Sure, the single was “Listen to What the Man Said,” which was light and not truly representative of the rest of the record. Yes, “Venus and Mars” was a summer album, released at the end of May 1975, it was upbeat more than dark, but… The songs no one ever talks about…god. “You Gave Me the Answer” sounds straight off the White Album. “Magneto and Titanium Man” is a fantasy that only Paul could construct, never mind the way he sings about being involved in a robbery… Jimmy McCulloch tears through “Medicine Jar,” we knew him from Thunderclap Newman, we knew he had substance abuse problems, it’s not a Paul song, but I love it.

The “Venus and Mars (Reprise)” is better than the version that opens the album. It’s ethereal, like it was cut in a cathedral. “Call Me Back Again” features stop/start elements similar to “Let Me Roll It,” Paul showing his rock and roll roots, his fifties rock and roll roots.

And I could name a few more songs on the LP, but I’m just going to go on about my absolute favorite, “Letting Go.” Man, it’ll shake your house if you’ve got speakers with bottom. They talk about it in the book, McCartney wants to recut it, but drummer Geoff Britton, whose tenure in Wings was brief, says absolutely not. Turns out they were going for an Al Green vibe…something I never realized…and Britton had a roadie retrieve one of Green’s albums to play alongside and everybody agreed they’d nailed it. And so do I!

Unfortunately, they don’t go through every track of every album, which is disappointing. I did learn this nugget about “Letting Go,” and someone referenced the voices at the end of “Big Barn Bed,” in the coda, how Linda’s vocal enriched the sound, and I agree, however… The nuggets were mainly about the obvious cuts, but they are there.

As for “At the Speed of Sound”… The book goes overboard in trying to defend “Silly Love Songs,” but there are no words about Denny Laine’s exquisite “Time to Hide” or Paul’s dreamy closer, “Warm and Beautiful.” I liked “At the Speed of Sound,” but it was definitely a comedown from “Band on the Run” and “Venus and Mars.” Not quite slight, yet too often light, and no one can rationalize the inclusion of Linda’s “Cook of the House,” but it’s hard to stay at the top.

But then things got worse. The only truly memorable song on “London Town” is the title track, which has just an amazing sound, so rich and moody and… Sure, the album does include “With a Little Luck,” which I see as a parallel to “Listen to What the Man Said”…in that they’re both catchy pop songs, but they’ve got the nutritional value of an Oreo. Sure, Paul can throw off hits at will, but we expect the bar to be set higher.

As for “Back to the Egg,” the less said the better. And in this case, McCartney tends to agree. But then there’s a reappraisal… Yup, everything McCartney does is godhead.

So have I established my bona fides? Proven I’m enough of a McCartney fan?

As for an oral history… It’s the lazy way to construct a book. With not only conflicting viewpoints, but timing is not always clear and there’s a lot of repetition and I’d much rather read a narrative book about Wings by one person. The story, from soup to nuts. Hopefully, with a bit of criticism involved.

Now Paul starts by saying the book is a companion to a Morgan Neville film, which I’m sure will be better than this book.

And there’s some rationalization about starting from the beginning of Paul’s solo career, but really it’s not Wings on those first two LPs, but I wanted to read the stories anyway.

And I learned a bunch of stuff. More about the retreat to Scotland after the Beatles broke up, and McCartney family life. How “Junior’s Farm” was inspired by the owner of a farm they were staying at outside of Nashville…

There are definitely morsels. And for a while there, you’re intrigued. You know so much, but you’re dying for these little nuggets, to fill out your knowledge of Paul and his efforts.

So I was so into the story that at first I wasn’t bugged by the oral history format, but then…

You start to realize that this book is essentially hagiography. We already know Paul is great, as good as they get, a legendary icon. But they keep pouring it on, how creative he is, what a genius he is, how he can write songs on the spot. And Linda is an angel and they’re both such good parents and…

By time you finish the book you want to puke. Did anybody think about how the audience would receive these words? I’m not saying I need dirt, but no man is as good as they portray Paul in this book. Ultimately it’s a pain to finish.

And there’s absolutely no insight if it would reflect negatively on Paul. Band members keep leaving… It’s obvious if you know rock and roll… The musicians wanted to WORK! Not only record, but go out on the road and play. But Paul just wants to live the domestic life in Scotland, as they hang out, waiting for something to happen, and it’s TORTURE!

But Paul can’t see it, because he’s so damn perfect, raising his kids, being a sheep farmer, writing all that music… Who could handle all these hiatuses? No wonder all these players quit.

But all Paul can seem to say is they were disloyal. That they let him down. B.S.

If you’re a big Wings fan, maybe… If you’re not, NO WAY! Do not bother with this book.

They’re so proud of collecting all these stories. But few of the speakers are rendered in 3-D. They just weigh in about Paul.

Truly only one story stuck with me, sits in my brain. The band is playing a gig and Jimmy McCulloch won’t leave his dressing room for an encore. Paul ultimately hits him to get him to come back on the stage. I wanted more of that story… You hit him? How hard? Where? Was it a fist or a slap? McCartney doesn’t tell us, just goes on about how Jimmy didn’t get along with his father.

But if you’re looking for other faux pas, you won’t find them in this book.

Man, I’d like to penetrate Paul, truly find out what it was like being the center of attention, still being the center of attention. How do you cope? Did you get depressed? Who did you talk to about your problems? Very few have experienced this level of success, in the case of the Beatles, absolutely no one. I mean what’s it like being Paul McCartney, on the inside? All we get here is kisses on the bottom.

But, at the Capitol Congress a few years back, Paul told a story about taking the jitney in from the Hamptons to the city, and then taking a bus uptown. You won’t get anybody on the Grammy show on the jitney, never mind a bus. No, they want to be separate from the people. I’d like to know more about how Paul got over his fear of the public after John was shot, which is referenced here.

Now the book goes on about the creation of album covers and marketing materials and ultimately that is what this book is, part of the endless onslaught of marketing for the movie, just another product, not the deep down truth.

There is some truth in “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run,” but just not enough. It ultimately creates distance between the reader and Paul, it’s like they circled the wagons and anybody who weighed in had to pay fealty. I won’t say it’s a circle jerk, but it is a missed opportunity. It’s more than a concert tour program, but it reads like one.

I’m glad I picked up some tidbits, some history, but I wish it hadn’t taken 550 pages to get it. Too much surface, not enough depth. I wanted more, and if the people responsible for this book continue to be in control of Paul’s legacy, I doubt I’ll get it.

https://people.com/what-is-the-turning-point-usa-half-time-show-11898234

Well, we’re Americans too. Black, brown, immigrants, foreign-language speaking people…

Sun Tzu says “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.”

Want to make a statement? Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar, they should all petition to be on the Turning Point USA halftime show.

That’s right, weren’t all of us supposedly unAmericans not properly righteous, not paying fealty to Charlie Kirk? It’s time to embrace Turning Point USA, so that it can truly represent all Americans.

WHAT?

All that ICE virtue signaling on the Grammys was worthless. I need you to watch Bill Maher’s New Rules on this:

Isn’t the goal of activism to change people’s minds?

I don’t think anyone did this at the Grammys. It was self-righteous virtual-signaling. Making real change, that requires you to put your reputation on the line, and none of these acts are willing to do this.

And, most of them are empty vessels anyway, they don’t radiate any intelligence, so their words have no impact. You’re going to take advice from these nitwits?

I don’t expect this alternative halftime show to garner many eyeballs, but that’s not what it’s about. It’s a press story. Why can only the right play this game?

Irrelevant of whether any people of color perform at this rinky-dink event, their offer to do so will become big time news. That’s how you fight fire…WITH FIRE!

Maybe get all those ICE OUT pin wearing acts at the Grammys to all volunteer to play the show. But certainly we need some names.

The key is to get them on the back foot, responding, why do Democrats always have to play defense?

It’s about shame… When acts of color offer to do the show and Turning Point USA turns them down, how are they going to deny that they’re racist, with roots in white nationalism? Real Americans my ass.

This event can be neutered, made a laughingstock of, showing how small-minded these people are. And if they decide to accept the challenge, and acts of color are featured, all the better, it shows that progress has been made.

Who are the major acts who are going to pony up, offer to do this Turning Point show?

None of them.

That’s right, they’re too busy worrying about what to wear than to enter the fray… They don’t want to stand out, they want to be protected by the group, they don’t want to associate with THOSE people.

A winning strategy for moving the ball?

NO!