Return to Pallavicini

We'll be heading to A-Basin in early March and hope to ski Pali Face it's signature Black Diamond Run. This letter to Skiing Magazine was written as a response to their guide.


A Pallavicinian Response
As soon as I saw your Guide to “Arapahoe Basin’s Pallavicini Lift” October 2008, I had to immediately call my long time ski buddy Jimbo Cline. “Page 55, do you think Mark saw the article?” was my question to Jim.

Back in ’02 the three of us did a week long, end of season, "Skiing Road Trip"; hitting all of our favorite Colorado resorts. Our last stop was A-Basin. Near the end of a great day we decided to try our luck on Pali Face a very steep run of almost 40 degrees. Jim suggested a quick pic of Mark and myself just below the top. That’s when near tragedy struck. The snow gave way under Mark’s downhill ski, he fell shoulder first down the face never getting a chance to get his skis under him. Mark slid and bounced till both of his skis snapped off and flew into the air. Mark franticly tried to self arrest to no avail. Jim and I helplessly watched Mark reach terminal velocity and start to bounce through the lower mogul fields before finally coming to rest down near Palliwog about 1,000 vertical feet below. Mark scared the shit out of us, we thought he was dead.

I never really got a chance to ski the run and just picked up bits and pieces of Mark’s debris as I made my way down to him. By some miracle Mark wasn’t killed or even badly injured just a little torn up from the corn snow exfoliation. A little blood dripped from his bitten tongue, and his jacket was up around his neck. We got him back to the lodge, poured him a beer, and called it the end of the day.

Now Mark is a big kid 300LBS, and a Springfield Cop, used to getting shot at by drug thugs, but his favorite nightmare remains his slide down Pali! One final note, Jim never did get the picture!





Mark “Sparky” at A-Basin late spring ‘02
Pali Face can be seen above him to the right.