Originally Posted by
telefreewasatch
Tonight's story is gonna be now on account of a football game.
No irreverence to the deceased or their loved ones intended here.
Christmas day '85 found us with a below average start for snow, and there was no snowmaking then. What we used to do was get on slopes above where snow was needed or a cat could access your pile with visqueen chutes 'Hoop chutes' that we would dig a fall line trough into the snow and shovel snow into. It was always facets so watering it down when applied made it last a lot longer. Overwatering had its downsides.
The Road to Provo was Christmas morning's job, the weather breezy with low clouds.
When we arrived at work there two large boxes of doughnuts from our bros up the road; the Alta ski patrol. So cool. I had two chocolate ones. Awesome gift before some cold grunt work.
Fast forward to April 1st. Me and another fella are on top of Mt. Baldy with patrolman Fog (my namesake). Fog was a stick and stuffing sort of patrolman, who would occasionally hang out where he was highly visible inside of rope lines where they were violated, just not close enough for good scrutiny. On this occasion he was adorned with ski boots and skis and a bamboo brace between the boots. Alta had a few night time poachers on Baldy that year so Fog was there to help. When the Alta Patrol were riding upper Wildcat and the old Collins after their morning meeting, I called them on the radio saying no one at dispatch is answering the phone and we just lost sight of a couple of guys going over Baldy, you might keep an eye out. Fog was on a string aimed down the chute, and I cut the string. He's a pretty light fellow, Fog is, if he'd had a couple of stone more weight his speed would have been better. After a 200' schuss, his tips which we hadn't braced started in towards each other and he made several increasingly short turns and went over the front. Silence on the Alta Radio for a bit. Eric Elison, town Marshall, was viewing from Central with a spotting scope. "They're not moving, what are you guys gonna do?" A hot Doug Christensen, patrol director, wanted to get the Sheriffs Helicopter up there.
Lou Moore chimed in that they "Ought to go the avalauncher and shoot that dummy."
We had to come clean pretty quickly.
As we were descending a very icy W Baldy, John Collins radios me "Jimmy they got us." We just did a pretty good prank, and Collins won't tell me what they did; "You'll have to see this for yourself." On Hidden Peak was a 30"x18" christmas paper wrapped board. On it were three pictures. On the left was a computer generated picture of a girl pushing a wheelbarrow full of candy, a Sweet Tooth certificate. On the right was a chalkboard that said "Merry Christmas and Happy April Fools" above and "Hope You Liked the Doughnuts" below. In the center was a picture of over half of the Alta ski patrol. Bars over the eyes had been generated like a police photo. And they all had their pants down, bent over with a doughnut in their ass.
