Tale of lost ski equipment has happy ending
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SANTA FE, New Mexico -- After a full morning of skiing at Ski Santa Fe, we stopped for lunch at its mid-mountain restaurant.
We leaned our skis against the chest-high steel ski racks, ate lunch in the sunshine at one of the outside picnic tables, cleared our table and walked about 15 feet to the ski racks.
"Someone took my skis and poles," said Bob Hughes . "I know I left them right here."
Fellow Pittsburghers Tony Powell , Joe Bensy and I joined Bob in a rack-by-rack search for his equipment. We hoped someone had moved it for some reason or had picked it up by mistake, realized it wasn't theirs and placed it against another rack.
No such luck.
Bob called off the search, urged us to resume skiing and then reported the missing gear to an employee of the Totemoff's Bar & Grill. The employee called for a snowmobile to take Bob to the base lodge where he filed a written report. He was sure he never would see his skis and poles again.
It was a sour start to a much-anticipated weeklong visit to several New Mexico ski areas. Bob used our rental car to drive to Alpine Sports in Santa Fe where Joe and I had rented our gear.
We returned Monday to Ski Santa Fe in a storm that delivered 10 inches of powder snow. It was a glorious day -- wide-open slopes and trails, no lift lines and delighted skiers, snowboarders and resort managers and employees. Snow has been sparse this season.
The day got better when we returned to Santa Fe, a 16-mile trip from the ski area via twisting, turning Highway 475 through the lush evergreens and aspens of the Santa Fe National Forest. Bob had just entered his room when he got a call from Mike Jameson of Albuquerque.
"I've got your skis and poles," he said.
Mike, a high school history and English teacher, had skied to Totemoff's with two friends shortly before we did. They had "a quick snack" and resumed skiing.
It turned out Mike had the same length red and black Rossignol skis and the same length poles that Bob did. They also had the same size boot. Mike had no problem stepping into Bob's bindings.
"My friends and I skied pretty hard for about 90 minutes before we left for the day. I had no problems with the skis. My friend put the skis on his roof rack, and we drove back to Albuquerque."
Mike said he transferred the equipment to his car and didn't take it out until Monday.
That's when he realized it wasn't his. "My skis and poles are newer. I bought them a month ago."
He called the ski area, explained what had happened and was given Bob's phone number.
"I was so happy to get that call," Bob said. "I sure didn't want to buy new skis and poles."
Mike apologized several times for the mixup, drove 54 miles to Santa Fe to return the skis and poles and gave Bob $50 toward the cost of the equipment he had to rent.
They recommended that skiers separate their skis and poles or exchange one ski with a friend and place the unrelated pair in different ski racks.
They also encouraged skiers and snowboarders to mark/engrave their name or initials near the front of their equipment, use a lock or a rack that can be locked or check it if a resort has a storage service. The latter usually costs about $2 and can be used any number of times at no additional charge.
Mike plans to return to Ski Santa Fe today. He said an employee told him a pair of skis and poles had been found at Totemoff's but didn't have a description of them.
"I hope they're mine," he said.
First Published January 21, 2012 12:00 am
