ski trip

We're bAAAAck!!!

Oh but this was a FUN trip. Really. Truly. Maybe the best ski trip ever. All that time when the kids were whiny and I wanted to kill them and couldn't imagine WHY I was teaching them this sport are now obliviated. They were fun to be around. We can all ski at pretty much the same level and it was just plain great.

We were with B's older sister, her hubby and their daughter (who is one month--to the day--older than Younger). We had an absolutely gorgeous condo in the village of Winter Park. The kitchen had marble counters and glass front cabinets. The whole place had pretty hardwood floors with radiant heating. It was really fabulous. So we skied and ate. That's pretty much it. But that was all we needed. Oh . . . we had a beverage or two, as well. :-)

We had one . . . err . . . interesting . . . scary . . . but ultimately ok, adventure. There is a new set of runs at Winter Park way up on the top of Mary Jane. It's 12,900 feet. Damn cold. VERY windy. Amazing skiing. The girls didn't love these runs because of the wind and cold. I, on the other hand, could have done those runs again and again and again. It felt like the top of the world. As you came off the lift the first runs are dome shaped--they are truly the TOP of the mountain. It's so cool.

Anyhoo, on Thursday afternoon we decided to go up there and ski a trail off the top of Mary Jane way down to the Winter Park base. This is probably a four or five mile trail. This would be our first time on this run. So we get to the top and head off down the trail. And . . . white out. I've never been in one before. In a word . . . frightening. Really. As we are headed down the trail we can see about 20 yards around us. The wind is moving the snow so fast at our feet, we cannot see the ground and it left me with the impression that I was skiing about 70 miles an hour. (If you are moving at 10 MPH and the wind is blowing at you at 60 MPH, it is very disorienting). About 300 yards into the run we were too low to turn back without climbing back up. At this point, my BIL takes a fall. He wasn't hurt but this guy doesn't fall . . . so that disturbed us all. Moments later, his daughter goes down in the same place, followed by Youngest. YIKES. (Oh, Eldest wasn't with us . . . she was sitting at the base . . . we could only listen to soo much bitching about her boots hurting. Like EVERYONE's legs don't hurt? Bah.) That's when we realized we'd made a mistake. We had NO BUSINESS being up there. But there was no indication of this situation before we headed off. (Do you suppose that's why they give you those warnings about suddenly changing conditions?)

The four adults put on brave faces and rallied the troops. Our niece was in tears and Younger--who is always really brave and game for anything--also looked a little scared. We decided we had to get down off the ridge of the mountain. Conditions were clearly the worst on the ridge. But of course we couldn't see where we were, right? Yeah, you skiers out there know the rest of the story . . . we came down off this blue trail, onto a series of black slopes. (For you non-skiers, a blue trail is intermediate skiing; green is for beginners; blue-black is intermediate-hard; black is an expert trail; and, double-black is for crazy people.) These were highly moguled, gladed black slopes. And, of course, we had no choice but to ski down in a blizzard. At the time we were not loving the experience but after we made it off the mountain . . . each in one, rather icy, snow-packed piece . . . we chalked this up at an adventure.

But, at one point, we did discuss who we would eat first. What a sick-humored bunch!

Yeah for one of the greatest trips. Ever.

So again, you get a ski house.