SKiing #5

One of the lift was out of commission and everybody cramped into the lone beginner slope, pandemic or not. This  is the problem with two-chair resorts: if one of the chair does down, you are left with not much recourse. It could've been downright boring day skiing up and down a beginner slope. Then the snow flurry, heavy at times, came around noon. I haven't been snowed on for years and the hour-long flurry was enough for a novelty.

I wasn't sure about going up for skiing yesterday. The forecast called for mostly cloudy day and skiing wasn't going to be fun. The white surface gets flattened under the cloud and you can't discern the shape of the terrain. But it's going to turn warm over the weekend and the snow will turn slushy next week, so I wanted to ski on good snow, possibly for the last time this season.

The closing of one lift wasn't the main drama of the day though. The real one happened when I came back to the car. As I tried to drove off, the tire pressure warning flashed. One of the tire was completely flat. I immediately cursed the tire installer at Firestone where I got a new set of tire put on just the day before. I got out, pumped 15 psi with my portable compressor and then limped to Donner Summit Gas service station a quarter mile away. There I fully inflated the tire and then heard the hideous hiss coming from somewhere in the tire. The air was not holding up. The station was closed for the service so they couldn't do anything about it. But Ryan and friends at the station sprayed soap water on the tire and located a huge nail on the inside wall of the tire.  What are the chances that your brand new tire would hit a nail, on the inside wall no less, and puncture the very next day? I should buy a lotto ticket.

Tesla roadside assistance program came through and had the car towed to Truckee for the repair. The tire couldn't be repaired, of course, but Travis at Truckee Tire plugged the hole for free so that I could drive back home at least. It was past 7PM when I got back home. I'm usually back by 4PM, so the incident and subsequent hassle took 3 hours. In all, what was supposed to be an easy skiing day unexpectedly turned into a harrowing one. 

A shit happened, but I didn't have to make lemonade this time, thanks to good people on the road. I still have to buy a new tire though. The temporary patch on the tire  wall will not hold up and I'm not supposed to drive with it for long.