Most of you know that I was, for a very long time, a nationally touring stand-up comic. Some of you know that I had a weekly comedy show this past winter up at the Summit Lodge. What nearly none of you know about is that the best audience for which I ever performed was the…

By Brady Crain Paul McCartney’s concert at Fenway park last week was a show that once again (for the fourth time ) brought tears to Crain’s eyes creating a memory not soon to be forgotten. I did something this week that I haven’t done since I was 14. I pulled a groin. And not in…

Given that I used to pop anti-inflammatory pills like candy when I was a fighter, I have assiduously avoided them since. I have weathered many injuries to my knees, back, neck, bruises, etc. without any sort of assistance, but this has been different…neck pain followed by sacral sprain followed by neck pain. I have once…

  Most of Lewis Crain is in Lake Dunmore. The reason for this is that my mother and two of our friends and I put him there. It is where he wanted to be, and so we puttered around the shore of Lake Dunmore putting his ashes in the water. Slowly at first, but then…

This was a great week. I have been taking it easier for a week or so at the Rutland climbing gym to let some de-gloving issues heal on my fingers, but I have been getting into bouldering to keep my strength up. When there is no one at the gym to belay me, I just…

  Empathy, perspective and ethics: refugees and Rutland Today I am going to leave my usual topics and briefly dive into a topic that is in the news here locally: Syrian refugees coming to Rutland. I was surprised and pleased when Mayor Louras announced that Rutland would be hosting 100 Syrian refugees. I was proud,…

I love this spring—the beautiful weather, good hiking, great climbing both at the gym and outdoors, and playing softball (for the first time in my life). I am on the Killington Deli team, and after a few disastrous early games, things are coming together nicely. I am playing first base (one of my old standby…

It’s a great view, looking from Sherburne Pass trail at the Pico overlook. One can see the mountains of five states and Canada from the top of the peak. By Brady Crain I stuck a pin in the ski season at 200 days, and it was a pretty great 200 days considering the season it…

As I write this, I am about to embark on my 197th day of skiing for the year, and quite a year it has been. Despite the lack of winter weather, I will finish he season with about 20 days of uphill (much of it plain old hiking, very little of it skinning). I am…

For those of you who read last weeks article, I spoke too soon. Monday, May 16, was one of the best days of my life. In another surprise event, Killington was blessed with a dry snowfall that piled up about a foot deep in the troughs. I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed with…

Praise the lord and pass the mashed potatoes, this has been one of the best weeks of my life. On Monday, May 9, I hiked Superstar and skied through POWDER! Leaving my windowless concrete bachelor bunker (free Radon!) for my morning hike-ski, I noticed a dusting of snow on the ground. No palpitations, just some…

By Brady Crain It has finally happened—I’ve transferred to the uphill season! As I write this, I have completed 173 days of skiing, and I have hiked Superstar four days in a row. My legs, once rubbery testaments to my sedentary winter lifestyle, are now once again carved from iron. Starting May 1, Killington Resort…

I write this on the heels of Earth Day, 2016. I have been working too much. For the first time in my life, I am really caught up in the rat race. It is difficult to separate myself from it, because my endeavor is literally to save the world one rooftop at a time, but…

I am sitting down to dash this off on day 155 of skiing this year. This has by far been the best worst year of skiing I have ever seen. Cold nights, warm beautiful days and a huge thick slab of blue Vermont ice to ride into May. We complain about the weather, but we…

Getting outside again Before I get started, I just want to invite everyone down to the Earth Day Celebration from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20, at the Rutland Winter Farmers Market, located at 251 West Street in Rutland. I will be there hanging out, digging the slow living thing, so come on…