When Joseph and I went down to
breakfast, we were seated in a part of the restaurant that we hadn’t been in
before.
The Brits at Breakfast
Next to us were a table of
Brits. They seemed to be a skiing group that evidentially knew each other very
well. I eavesdropped in on their conversation for just a bit and finally leaned
over from my table and said: “Pardon me guys; but exactly what part of Brooklyn
are you from?”
That broke the ice and we dug
into each other’s background a little deeper from this point. These guys turned
out to be a group of skiers that had met way back in 1992 when they all had
booked a ski outing in Europe and found that they had made great friends. They
in some sort of assemblage have managed to gather to ski somewhere in the world
every year since. This year they had really splurged and bought their way to
Alaska and they just happened to be in the hotel at the same time as those of
us there for the Iditarod Start.
The group consisted of a bunch
of guys from all over the UK. I here present their names and residence as they
themselves wrote it out. I’m sorry if I have made a mistake deciphering their
hand writing.
Roland Topf,
Island of Jersey
Tony Newman,
London, UK
Ewen Cameron,
Dillington, UK
Charlie Elliot,
Stow on the Woods, UK
Damian Simor, Hackney,
London
Andrew Tipton,
Tooting Bec, London
Charlie Foster,
New Forest, UK
Tordrillo Mountains
They were headed to a Lodge in
the Tordrillo Mountains, northwest of Anchorage, where a group of guys operated
a heli skiing and snowboarding operation. Elevations range from 1,000-feet at
the Lodge, to over 11,000-feet on the highest peaks; the vast expanse of the
range (1.2 million acres, 65 X 35 miles) provides a variety of climate zones. The
guys had come half way around the world for this adventure and were really
pumped to get at it.
Roland’s Facebook Post 13 Mar
15:
“Feeling sad this week as it is
coming to an end. It was the trip of a lifetime with amazing friends and we
always knew weather could be an issue so only got 2.5 days out of a max 6 days
skiing BUT the days we got were mind blowing and have so much more unfinished
business on those steeps of Alaska. If anyone who skis well wants the ultimate
ski experience go to Tordrillo and meet the amazing team out there - you won't
be disappointed!
It was a trip off firsts as
well. Fist time jumping into a frozen lake, First
time doing a Shotski, first time Heli skiing, first times skate skiing AND
first time seeing the Northern lights wow!
This is
a drug and I’m addicted to it already – help!”
or
Skiing
I have always regretted not to
have learned to ski. But after being called in to LTG James F. Hollingsworth
(MG at the time) office and ordered not to go anywhere near the ski area during
my time in the Army in Alaska, I have stayed far away from that activity.
Having served two tours of duty at Army Posts with their own Ski Hill and
Lodge, I will never know how good (or bad) I would have been at skiing.
National Guard
Assignment
Another of the guys in the group had spent an exchange
tour of duty with the the First Troop, Philadelphia City Cavalry; an old and excellent
unit in the Pennsylvania National Guard. The Philadelphia Light Horse has the distinction as being the escort for General
George Washington to New York to take command of the Continental Army. It is
the oldest military unit in the United States still in active service, having
been organized in 1774 and is the only military unit in the US that owns its own
armory building, built with private funds
in the Rittenhouse section of Philadelphia. http://hiddencityphila.org/the-armory-of-the-first-troop-philadelphia-city-cavalry/
I’m sorry that I didn’t pay
close attention to this guy when he wrote his name on my roster of participants
so I could divulge his name to you. He was very proud of his duty with these
guys and rightly so—a
great opportunity and memory also.
They kept coming and going to
and from the four seats at the table (see 7 names above) until all had finally
finished their breakfast and left for their flight to the Tridrillo Mountains.
It was my great pleasure to have met them and spend time in conversation with
them about their upcoming adventure.
Remembrance
I was reminded of an earlier
time in my life when things would most likely have been reversed. I would have
been going off on the adventure and the others would have been watching. At
this point in my life, the roles were reversed. I do not mind it one bit; I’ve
had many adventures and need to leave a few for others to experience. Besides,
I’m about to revisit an adventure that I had some 43 & 44 years ago—watching the Iditarod
and help move it along.
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