Stone Ranger

by Bob Blanton

“Nothing, we were just making sure we had gotten all the bags,” Emily said. “I’ll see you guys in ten minutes.”

  Tyler gave Matthew a look, but Matthew just shrugged his shoulders and went into the room to change.

  After changing, Matthew came out of the room to find Tyler and Jason consulting the large map of the ski area that was pinned on the wall.

  “You guys figure out where the best runs are?”

  “I think we should take Orient Express or Emperor’s Choice. They’re usually not too crowded.

  “They’re both long diamond runs, so I’d guess not,” Matthew said.

  “What’s the matter, Matt, afraid of a little challenge?” Tyler had a little spark of their old rivalry in his eye.

  “Not going to be a problem for me, but I don’t know how everyone else skis.”

  “Well, Brea and Alex are both expert skiers and I’m on the Junior Ski Patrol, so enough said,” Jason looked at Tyler, “How about you, Tyler?”

  “I do okay.”

  “What about you, Matt?”

  “I managed to qualify for the Junior Ski Patrol last year, so I think I’ll do fine, and Emily told me she’s starting her qualifications for the National Patrol when she turns eighteen.”

  “Well then, if I break a leg, I shouldn’t have any problem finding someone to help me down the mountain.” Tyler looked a little threatened as he realized that most of them were expert skiers.

  “Did you say you wanted someone to push you down the mountain?” Jason laughed.

  “Har har.”

  “You guys behaving yourselves?” Emily’s voice startled them, and all three boys jumped.

  “We’re trying to decide where we should start the day. Jason was suggesting we start out with Emperor’s Choice or Orient Express.”

  “You can, but I’m going to stay on the intermediate slopes for the first part of the afternoon. I like to get my legs retrained before I hit the hard stuff.”

  “Well, what do you think, Matt?” Jason asked.

  “I’m just going to follow Brea.”

  “Follow me where?” Brianna asked, as she and Jennifer joined the group.

  “Wherever you want to ski.”

  “Well, I’m going to take it easy today; save the hard stuff for tomorrow.”

  “How about you, Jen, how’s your skiing?” Jason asked.

  “I’m pretty much an intermediate skier. I’m going to try and take a lesson on Friday, so maybe by the end of the weekend I’ll be able to struggle down a diamond run.”

  Tyler looked obviously relieved that the group was deciding to avoid the long diamond runs for the day.

  “Where’s Alex?” Jason asked.

  “She should be out any second,” Brianna answered, “she was trying to decide which sweater she was going to wear today.”

  “Which sweater?” Matthew rolled his eyes, “no wonder she had four bags.”

  “Matt, Brea had five,” Jason laughed, “what have you got, one sweater, one pair of ski pants and an extra jacket?”

  “What else do you need?”

  “Nothing, as long as you’re a guy; but girls go skiing as much for the ski fashions as for the skiing.”

  “Of course. Why do you think they have so many choices? One sweater, how boring.”

  “Who’s only got one sweater?” Alex asked, as she finally showed up.

  “We were just comparing how much clothing you girls brought compared to us guys.”

  “Well, we’ve got taste in clothes; you guys only have taste in women.” All the girls giggled.

  “Pizza’s here,” Jason hollered, as the pizza delivery guy reached the door.

  “Oh boy!” came the cry from Sonja and Hanna as they scurried down the stairs. They were still wearing the clothes they wore on the plane.

  “Why didn’t they change yet?” Matthew asked.

  “Think. You’ve seen little kids eat?” Emily said, “nobody brought that many clothes.”

  Jason paid for the pizzas and carried the boxes to the kitchen. Emily and Brianna both got plates, forks and napkins out of the cupboard while Jennifer got the two girls seated at the table.

  “What do you want to drink?” Jennifer asked.

  “Coke,” Hanna said.

  “How about a nice glass of milk?” Brianna said as she was putting a slice of pizza on the two plates. “You can have a Coke after you’re finished skiing.”

  “Okay,” Hanna and Sonja resigned themselves to a healthy drink for now.

  “You guys might as well slow down, you’re not going anywhere until we’re finished,” Emily said, “and we haven’t even started yet.”

  “We’re just trying to take the edge off our hunger,” Matthew exchanged a sheepish look with the other two guys. They were all three starting on their second slice of pizza.

  “Sit down, stay awhile. Relax, we can’t even get on a ski lift until after 12:00 and it’s not even 11:30 yet.”

  “Are you taking care of your sisters?” Mrs. Winthrop hollered down the stairs.

  “We’ve got them covered,” Brianna hollered back. “Do want me to put some pizza aside for you before the guys eat it all?”

  “Yes, put one pepperoni and mushroom and a Hawaiian pizza aside for us. And nobody goes skiing without a two-way radio. Jason you take care of it.”

  “Okay,” Brianna looked at the collection of pizza boxes. Every box had been opened as each of the guys had grabbed a different one; there wasn’t a whole pizza left in the group.

  “You guys are a bunch of pigs.” Brianna assembled the two pizzas by taking slices from different boxes. “If they get mad about this, you guys are taking the rap.”

  “Sorry,” was all the guys could say.

  “They’re sure taking their time,” Tyler remarked to the group.

  “Mom and Cara signed the girls up for ski lessons at 1:00, so there’s no reason for them to hurry.”

  “Do the girls know how to ski at all?” Matthew asked.

  “They both did a little skiing at the end of last season, so we’ll see how much they remember,” Emily said.

  “They’ll probably be out-skiing all of us by the end of the weekend,” Tyler said. “Sometimes I just want to trip those little guys with my ski pole when they go zipping by me.”

  “They’re closer to the ground, so it’s hard to hurt themselves; makes them fearless,” Matthew said.

  “You can say that again.”

  “Okay, everyone take a radio. The chargers are here on the counter, so you’re responsible for plugging your radio in at night.” Jason demonstrated how to put the radios into the charger.

  “And Mom and Dad check on us, so you’d better make sure yours is on and working, or you’ll be sitting out the rest of the day,” Emily said.

  “Geez, is this Camp Pendleton or what?” Tyler whined.

  “It’s actually pretty cool. We can call each other so we can group for lunch, or if you’re looking for someone else to ski with. And we’ll know everyone’s safe,” Emily said, giving Tyler a motherly ‘quit whining’ look.

  “Just make sure you don’t lose yours.” Jason finished handing them out.

  By the time the girls had taken care of the two little ones, eaten and cleaned up, it was approaching 12:00, and Jason was getting very antsy.

  “But this is a perfect ski afternoon and we only have five hours,” Jason whined.

  “Hold your jets,” Brianna said. “We’re almost finished here, and we can ski right down to the lift.”

  “Yeah, calm down, big boy,” Alex said.

  “We’re ready,” Brianna announced a few minutes later.

  “Just a second, I need to get my boots on.”

  “Well hurry up, it’s almost 12:00,” Brianna teased.

  “Quit picking on him. He can’t help it, it just takes him some time to get his stuff together,” Alex piled on.

  “You guys are going to have to pay those checks you’re writing when we hit the diamonds tomorrow,” Jason said. �
�You should make sure you’ve got enough to cover the action.”

  “Ooh, I’m scared,” said Brianna.

  “Now, play nice,” Emily said. “Everyone ready to ski?”

  As they skied down to the lift area, Matthew asked, “Which lift do we take?”

  “We’ll take the Vista Bahn Express, it’s just behind the lodge,” Emily said. “That’ll let everyone take Lion’s Way to Cold Feet, and Cold Feet will take us down to the bottom of the Avanti Express lift, that’s an easy run. Then we’ll take the Avanti lift to the top.”

  “Sounds good, there are lots of intermediate runs off the top, and a few short diamonds,” Jason said. “Let’s go.”

  “It’s only 11:55,” Brianna said as they swooshed along slowly. “See, you’re going to have to wait anyway.”

  “Wait is right,” Tyler said, pointing to the long lift line.

  “I knew we were wasting ski time,” Jason whined.

  Alex punched Jason in the arm, “Behave yourself,” she whispered loudly.

  It took twenty minutes to make it through the lift line, and then Jason, Alex, Emily and Tyler got one quad chair, and Brea, Jennifer, Matthew and a lone skier got into the next quad chair. Finally they were heading up the mountain.

  Brianna and Jennifer started talking as soon as they got seated. Jennifer was telling her about the Saturday that Jeffrey came over and practiced with Matthew.

  “And he showed me how to do push hands; it was so cool. He could make me fall down without any effort; we’d be doing it, then all of a sudden I’d be off balance. Then …”

  “Hey, are you guys planning to ride this thing down?” Matthew hollered, realizing that they hadn’t gotten themselves prepared to hop off the lift.

  “Jason, catch Jen,” Matthew hollered as the two girls had to jump off the lift with their ski poles in one hand, totally unprepared.

  Matthew helped Brianna catch her balance when she landed; and Jason, fortunately, was quick enough to catch Jennifer before she did a face plant in the snow.

  “Thanks, Jason,” Jennifer struggled to get herself situated. “That could have been embarrassing.”

  “What do you mean could have been?” Jason teased. “You two are dangerous when you start talking.”

  “Well, Matt should have told us we were almost at the top,” Brianna said.

  “I didn’t know I needed to, but now we all know better,” Matthew laughed. “We’d better get out of the unload area before someone lands on us.”

  “See you guys at the bottom,” Jason hollered as he raced off to catch up with Alex.

  “Are you two ready?” Matthew adjusted his ski poles.

  “Yes, lead the way.”

  Matthew skied off in the same direction Jason had, but after two hundred yards, he pulled beside a map. “This is a real easy trail to follow.”

  Brianna stayed close to Jennifer the whole way down. After a few minutes, Matthew started to ski on the edge of the run, trying to find some more challenging areas. He swooshed from side to side, getting used to his father’s boots and skis. They were a lot nicer than the ones he’d used last year.

  When the three of them made the turn from Cold Feet to Cubs Way, Matthew could see Emily and Alex talking next to the Avanti Express lift. He raced ahead of Brianna and Jennifer and did a hockey stop in front of the two.

  “Hey, where’re Jason and Tyler? You didn’t push them off into a snow drift or something did you?”

  “No, but we wanted to,” Emily said. “Jason goaded Tyler into taking the Avanti run; he was too bored on Cold Feet.”

  “It was a pretty milk toast run. But that makes for a good warm-up,” Matthew added before Emily had a chance to scold him.

  “Hey, guys, are we waiting for Jason and Tyler?” Brianna asked, as she and Jennifer pulled up.

  “There they are,” Jennifer pointed at the two skiing quickly toward the lift.

  “They’d better slow down, or they’ll get busted. This whole bowl is a slow zone,” Emily said.

  “What took you so long?” Alex asked, when the two boys finally pulled up.

  “You’d better slow down in the slow zones, or they’ll take your lift ticket,” Emily warned.

  “Okay, you’re right, they’re pretty serious about that here,” said Jason. “I had to climb back up the hill to get Tyler’s ski. He hit a mogul and decided to try flying. He didn’t make it too far, and one of his skis planted itself up the hill.” Jason was laughing so hard he barely got the story out.

  “The mogul was buried,” Tyler pleaded his defense.

  “Yeah, there was a lot of nice powder on the side of the run,” Jason agreed. “I wish I’d had a video camera going, I think it would have had a shot at America’s Funniest.”

  Tyler was obviously embarrassed to have Jason tease him, but didn’t know how to make him stop.

  “Well, I’m sure we’ll all have our moments this week,” Matthew said. “Flying is one of the exciting parts of skiing; it’s the landing that bites.”

  “You can say that again,” Tyler was obviously relieved for someone to help make light of his spill.

  “Okay, let’s get in line for the lift. I’m going to take Lodgepole down this time; anybody with me?”

  “Jennifer and I are going to work our way around on an easy run again.” Brianna saw Matthew give a quiet groan so she decided to give him a break. “Matt, you can go with Jason if you want, we’ll see you back here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Jennifer just needs another run to get her ski legs back.”

  “All right,” Jason hollered, “Emily, Tyler, are you with us?”

  “Sure,” Emily turned to Tyler and whispered, “There are a couple of places where we can switch over to an easy run if we’re not ready for the hard one.”

  Jason and Alex were already getting on the ski lift by this time. The line went quickly so the seven were able to regroup at the top without making Jason wait too long.

  “What took you guys so long, we come here to ski or to talk?” Jason said as they regrouped at the top.

  “Apparently you came here to talk,” Matthew said.

  “Cool it, buster,” Alex slugged Jason.

  “Okay, I’m sorry, another run or two and I’ll get over my ski withdrawals,” Jason apologized.

  “You’d better,” Brianna pointed her radio at Jason in a not-too-veiled threat. Then she put it back in her pocket and zipped it closed. “Come on, Jen, we’ve got a longer trip down, we don’t want to keep ants-in-his-pants waiting too long.”

  The other five followed, but turned off shortly onto Lodgepole. Jason and Matthew spent some time hot-dogging along the edge of the run, darting between the trees and catching some air off the moguls. Emily and Tyler spent most of the time in the center of the run, while Alex alternated between the two groups.

  As they approached the steepest part of the run, Matthew decided to join Emily and Tyler. Tyler was clearly struggling down the slope, while Emily was almost absent minded in her skiing.

  “How are you guys doing?”

  “We’re doing fine.” Emily gave Tyler a concerned look.

  “Tyler, don’t let Jason make you uptight. If you don’t relax your knees a little and let the skis float, your hips are going to be sore from taking all the jolts.”

  “I just need to get another run in me, that’s all.”

  “You’re the boss, but here’s an exercise you can do to loosen up. Just lean forward against your boots and flex your knees and hips, and then take, long sweeping turns and keep your hands pointed down the hill.” Matthew demonstrated then raced ahead to catch up with Jason.

  “He’s right, you know. I shouldn’t have let Jason goad you into doing Avanti before you’d gotten your ski legs back,” Emily said.

  “I’m fine.”

  “You’re stiff as a board, come let’s do it; it’ll help both of us get back into the groove.”

  Tyler and Emily did a few sweeping turns while trying to f
lex their joints and develop some relaxation.

  When they skied into the lift area, Matthew gave Tyler a thumbs-up sign, “Looking smooth.”

  Emily mouthed “Thanks,” to Matthew.

  “Hey, where are Brea and Jen?”

  “I assume they’re still making their way down the bunny run,” Jason said.

  “Be nice,” Alex said. “If they took the easy trail all the way, it’ll take them a few more minutes to get here.”

  “Should we call them?”

  “Let’s just give them a few minutes, it’s a real pain to answer the radio when you’re skiing,” Emily gave Matthew a nod, suggesting he take a quick peek with his camera.

  Trying to avoid anyone noticing him, Matthew turned on his virtual camera and focused on Brianna. He immediately saw the two girls entering the last turn on Cubs Way. They were skiing slowly, while Jennifer talked to some guy. When the trio crested the last rise, Matthew called out, “There they are, looks like they picked up some guy.”

  “Where?” Jason asked.

  “Right there, see them just to the right of that clump of trees?” Matthew pointed to the girls.

  “Oh yeah, I see them. You must have some eagle eyes to tell that’s a guy skiing with them.”

  “Come on, why else would they slow down to talk?”

  “I’d say logic is a good aid to eyesight,” Emily chuckled.

  “Let’s get in line; they should be here before we make it to the chair.” Jason moved toward the lift line.

  “Sure, just make sure they see us,” Alex said.

  “I’ll stay here till they get here; you guys get in line,” Matthew said. “We’ll try to get cuts with you, but if we don’t make it, we’ll catch you at the top.”

  Matthew waited while Jennifer, Brianna and their friend skied up.

  “Hi, Matt, did we take too long?”

  “No, everyone else is in line holding a place. You ready?”

  “Sure; can Bill here go with us?”

  “Up to him. Hi, Bill, I’m Matt, you guys know each other or just meet on the slopes?”

  “We just met.”

  “Yeah, Jen ran into him and knocked him down.”

  “That’s one way to meet people,” Matthew chuckled. “I assume nobody got hurt.”

  “Just my pride,” Jennifer said. “It was Brea’s fault, she distracted me.”