Ski Hill Web Site

I know I'm a web snob. I truly believe that my company produces the best technology products on the market.

Notice, not web sites, that's only a part of what we do . . . but nonetheless, I've been watching the local ski hill's web site and especially the snowcam. See anything wrong with this picture? Anything? Nothing?

Here's a hint: There's no people, yet!!!

I hope this is the last time that we have pictures of Hidden Valley with this much snow and nobody on the slopes. If we're lucky, we'll get 90 days this season . . . I plan to be on at least 60 and with a trip to CO and then UT, it could be a really good year!

So, I can't wait until we finally get to shred-it-up on the slopes. Hidden Valley is such a sweet slope, especially for St. Louis where we're pretty darned flat compared to other places in Missouri.

The best thing about HV is that it's darned close to my house (same distance from Breck to Vail) and with pretty fast lifts and decently long runs (if you get a bit creative), it's an ideal ski-venue.

Really nice facilities, the lodge is right next to the Patrol Head Quarters (PHQ) and it's just a really fun/family place.

With a pair of black runs, mostly intermediates and a slug of greens, it really can be a place to start, learn, improve and even challenge yourself boarding or skiing. With the advent of a pretty significant shredding community in St. Louis, the folks at Peak Resorts have made a commitment to terrain parks that allow the two communities (skiers and snowboarders) to exist together and enjoy watching each other.

My oldest daughter Kimmy is a big-time boarder, as are most of her friends . . . and she's really good and not for a girl, she's just really good. Last year, she started to pull some bigger air and in Colorado, it was fun watching her in the parks, in the bowls, in the pipes and moguls and in general free-riding. I can't wait to see what she advances to this year, she's a cool kid!

OK, back to the web for a second...keep in mind, I'm a web snob: I just don't understand why anyone would switch from a fully functioning .asp site to a so-so, kinda blah, .php site. The old site had all the industry-standard functionality that was needed and then, the decision's made to go Open Source? Uhhhh, what? Not that I have any of the inside picture on why that's been done, hopefullyit has something to do with an inside resource being able to more easily maintain the systems, or a less expensive web host. If it was made because a web developer "sold them on the idea of this cool new tool", well, then, I'd question that pretty seriously.

But, since switching, the snowcam has gotten a new address . . . finally figured out where it is (eventhough it's not publically available) and have been watching the Hill Crew push stuff around. One more week, and we'll be skiing!!!

Oh, one last thing . . . got a call from the Ski School Director and hopefully, I'll be able to earn my way onto the School Staff. Interviews and auditions are next week . . . wish me luck!

You can do that by commenting or emailing . . . enjoy!