Another US Open Snowboarding Weekend Has Come and Gone

Another US Open Snowboarding weekend has come and gone and . . . from what I can tell . . . everyone is alive & well and rested & relaxed after a fabulous week of sun and fun. It was the proverbial perfect storm for a successful event - ideal sunny warm weather, lots of snow, school vacation week (for colleges on the trimester system and private schools) . . . and, best of all, there were appearances by most of the US's snowboarding team's 2010 Olympians and medal winners including Shaun White, Kelly Clark, Hannah Teter, and Louie Vito!

Saturday's events capped a week of almost perfect March spring weather. Temps hoovered in the high 50's and even hit the mid-60's a couple of times throughout the week. Stratton hosted tens of thousands of skiers and boarders and, from all reports, everything seems to have been a success.

As a volunteer with the local rescue service and ambulance, I see things slightly differently than the average attendee! Having tens of thousands of visitors partying their way around southern Vermont is often a recipe for disaster. Past years have been mostly tame with a few exceptions. Indeed, I think most folks were exceptionally well-behaved this year. I did "enjoy" my first all-nighter in years as a result of a busy rescue week/weekend, and I'm still recovering from lack of sleep. Recovery takes longer and longer as we get older!

In addition to being on duty two other nights during the week, and having to stand-by at a structure fire on the mountain earlier in the week (everyone was fine and I'm pretty sure the condo was "saved" with the exception of smoke and water damage), my crew and I had the dubious honor of pulling the Friday night shift for the US Open weekend. While I can't share any details, I can tell you that our shift started with a two-fer call (two patients) to Stratton at 5:15 PM Friday afternoon and ended with a call that brought us back to the squad building a little after 7:00 AM Saturday morning. In all, we transported five times to three different hospitals in the 14 hours we were out.

So, another US Open has successfully come to an end. Fans of all ages were happily entertained, and we all wrapped up the weekend with a little sun on our faces and a love for Vermont in our hearts!