My winter preps were done a few weeks ago.
Bulkhead full of wood and plenty fo 2 year plus wood in the piles - Check
Backup heating oil in the tank (bought some cheap last summer) - Check
Recent vintage snowblower with key spares since the plow guy retired - Check
Plenty of surplus net metered electric power to run the mini split - Check
Plan to need my ankle reconstructed and on crutches for minimum 8 weeks - Not Check
Last Saturday was a nice day. I needed some exercise so decided to climb the local ski slope, Wildcat Mtn in NH. Its 4,000 footer and about a 2000 foot vertical hike. It started out cool inthe AM but I ended up in shorts and a T- shirt. The route follows the maintenance road to the summit. While heading up a couple of ski patrol folks were heading up in a ATV to the summit. I made it up to the top and saw they were doing prep work for the hoped for opening in few weeks (once they get some natural snwo and colder temps they will crank the snow guns on) I got some good views of the east side of Mt Washington and the surrounding mountains. I headed down and was walking in the grass down the ski slope. No ice or snow at the time but a bit wet under the grass. About 20 minutes down from the summit I stepped wrong and landed on the ground in quite a bit of pain. I look down and my foot is rotated 90 degrees to the right vertically and not lined up with my leg. I gear up to stay warm and call 911. After some confusion with dispatchers I get NH Fish and Game on the line and am talking to one of the celebrities on North Woods Law. Officer Lucas. I tell him where I am and he asks if he can drive a pickup truck up the maintenance road, I was around 1800 feet vertically up from the base. I tell him about the ski patrol and he tells me he will see what he can do. In about 10 minutes a few hikers come by and I tell them my problem and the say the ATV is right behind them. Turns out the ski patrollers are also EMTs with the local ambulance squads. They do the assessment and immobilize my ankle which had to be creative as it was quite twisted. Then its an interesting climb onto the ATV and a bumpy 20 minute ride down the mountain and on to an ambulance and then to the ER. The ski patrollers could not give me painkillers but they did help me take a few advil from my pack. Surprising how well adrenalin and a few Advil work that was th only painkiller I had all day until I got home. The ER doc walks in looks at my foot and his eyes get wide. He asks how long its been and priority one is to get the foot back in place. He decides to knock me out as he said given my size and what he had to do he didnt think he and the nurses could restrain me as it really was going to hurt. Its the same shot and dose as a colonoscopy so 20 minutes later I am awake with a big splint arrangement on. They take a X-Ray and the end of two bones are broken. So now its wait around home limited to one floor (the boiler is in the basement) waiting for an Ortho surgeon. Looks like next week for the surgery.
So its good I had backup plan. I have a brother who is building a house on a 10 year plan nearby so he will be staying with me as needed for support. Its good practice for him as he has never burnt wood and his future driveway is far worse so he can see how my track drive blower works.
Bulkhead full of wood and plenty fo 2 year plus wood in the piles - Check
Backup heating oil in the tank (bought some cheap last summer) - Check
Recent vintage snowblower with key spares since the plow guy retired - Check
Plenty of surplus net metered electric power to run the mini split - Check
Plan to need my ankle reconstructed and on crutches for minimum 8 weeks - Not Check
Last Saturday was a nice day. I needed some exercise so decided to climb the local ski slope, Wildcat Mtn in NH. Its 4,000 footer and about a 2000 foot vertical hike. It started out cool inthe AM but I ended up in shorts and a T- shirt. The route follows the maintenance road to the summit. While heading up a couple of ski patrol folks were heading up in a ATV to the summit. I made it up to the top and saw they were doing prep work for the hoped for opening in few weeks (once they get some natural snwo and colder temps they will crank the snow guns on) I got some good views of the east side of Mt Washington and the surrounding mountains. I headed down and was walking in the grass down the ski slope. No ice or snow at the time but a bit wet under the grass. About 20 minutes down from the summit I stepped wrong and landed on the ground in quite a bit of pain. I look down and my foot is rotated 90 degrees to the right vertically and not lined up with my leg. I gear up to stay warm and call 911. After some confusion with dispatchers I get NH Fish and Game on the line and am talking to one of the celebrities on North Woods Law. Officer Lucas. I tell him where I am and he asks if he can drive a pickup truck up the maintenance road, I was around 1800 feet vertically up from the base. I tell him about the ski patrol and he tells me he will see what he can do. In about 10 minutes a few hikers come by and I tell them my problem and the say the ATV is right behind them. Turns out the ski patrollers are also EMTs with the local ambulance squads. They do the assessment and immobilize my ankle which had to be creative as it was quite twisted. Then its an interesting climb onto the ATV and a bumpy 20 minute ride down the mountain and on to an ambulance and then to the ER. The ski patrollers could not give me painkillers but they did help me take a few advil from my pack. Surprising how well adrenalin and a few Advil work that was th only painkiller I had all day until I got home. The ER doc walks in looks at my foot and his eyes get wide. He asks how long its been and priority one is to get the foot back in place. He decides to knock me out as he said given my size and what he had to do he didnt think he and the nurses could restrain me as it really was going to hurt. Its the same shot and dose as a colonoscopy so 20 minutes later I am awake with a big splint arrangement on. They take a X-Ray and the end of two bones are broken. So now its wait around home limited to one floor (the boiler is in the basement) waiting for an Ortho surgeon. Looks like next week for the surgery.
So its good I had backup plan. I have a brother who is building a house on a 10 year plan nearby so he will be staying with me as needed for support. Its good practice for him as he has never burnt wood and his future driveway is far worse so he can see how my track drive blower works.
