Category Archives: Skiing

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Winter Weekend

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The Santa suit pub crawl took us all over Park City Friday night.  We might have been to every bar here now! It had only barely started snowing so we figured we were all right. We made some friends and decided to meet them out the next day, but it was starting to snow quite a bit. We made it out to dinner at Shabu, which was a ton of fun. I got talked into trying to ski Sunday, since the storm was really picking up.

MK and I had to go and get my skis, which were being tuned in the Valley. We thought the roads out of our neighborhood weren’t that bad. So we went for the skis. It really started coming down when we hit the Valley. We had left the house at 9am, and it took about an hour to get down and two hours to get back up. Our car held up great, but there were other people out there that must be crazy. I can’t fathom getting in a little car without snow tires or AWD, you really probably needed a 4×4 to be out there. People were skidding out and making us nervous, we took our time.

We finally made it to Deer Valley to meet my friend KS and ski. She was super patient, as of course, I had no ski legs from last year. She was also super patient since she was the awesomest skier I’ve ever seen. She happens to be the SIL of a world famous skier. It was amazing to spend the day out with her. We met MK for an Apres Ski drink, and ended up meeting KS’s hubby AS too. He made it up in time for us to all meet up at the brand new St. Regis resort, after a ride up the 25 MILLION DOLLAR FUNICULAR.

What is that you ask? Wikipedia can tell you here. And then there’s the ton of pictures I took all weekend, there’s one photo of it there.

View the pictures.

It is the ride from the base to the resort. Not sure if it was worth the price tag, but it was a thrilling 2 minutes up or so. We had a snack and decided to hit No Name Saloon for some burgers. That put us home at about 7pm and we had left the house at 9am. We’d shoveled about a foot of snow to get out, and there was over a foot waiting for us when we got home. I already told you about that here.

It was totally worth it for a day out like that, and MK and I skied Monday too.

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Regarding My Last Post

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I wrote it hadn’t snowed since the night we moved in…

and look what we got overnight and in to today! It was 2 when I woke up. I think it’s about 6 right now. Degrees.

All you really have to do to make it snow is send me out to shovel. It started coming down right after I got in. Planning on taking my new skis from the ski swap to get tuned as soon as the roads look more doable. Every time I hear a car go by I peek out the window nervous about pending disaster. I don’t think it’s time for me to start driving in this just yet!

 And yes, the flag can stay. We decided not to burn it after all.

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Non Sporting Sports Injury

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The first time I hurt my knee was in high school. In the marching band. Which is not a sport. It’d be cool to be on crutches if you were the quarterback of the football team, but not if you’re the worst girl that was demoted from flute to I’m not even telling you what it’s that bad. There were many “she can’t even walk right” comments in my family.

I sucked at every sport I ever tried, so I gave them up as fast as I could. Then, in college I blew my knee out twice more – once on a sticky bar floor and once at an uneven outdoor concert venue. I shouldn’t even HAVE pride left. At the bar, the owner was a friend of mine, and was nice enough to give me a shot of tequila after I successfully popped my kneecap back into the socket it is supposed to stay in. At the concert, I was having trouble doing it myself but no man I was with would hit it in for me as I kept instructing. All three times I’ve gone to the doctor they’ve put me in a giant immobilizer, that goes from your ankle to your hip. Again, glamorous only after saving babies from burning buildings, not in college hopping around campus after a night at a bar.

So of course I took up skiing. And the point of this story is that although my knee hurt from time to time, it barely would pop, not the full on dislocation I’ve come to expect. And I made it through ski season – the toughest sport I’ve ever attempted, still walking on both legs.

Until last week, when no, not skiing, but standing up from sitting down and turning to reach and get something…did I pop my knee out of joint. My knee is a dork.

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Ski Weekend

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Where were you all weekend? I was at Deer Valley – looking for my feet.

weekend

have you seen a pair of skis around here?

It was hard to get a good shot, but there were spots the powder was up to my knees. MK taught me the ‘right’ way to get through this much snow and I had a blast, skiing more on Friday and Saturday that any other days out here, tons of runs, lots of new things. With a straight week of snow storms I’m sort of in denial – it can’t be spring, we can’t be leaving, it just got fun, I just got better…

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Don’t Ma’am Me

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Cute young woman or dirty old lady?

On the one hand, I think I’ve got a young ski outfit. I’m short, in my head that means I’m still growing. I feel young. I wear silly tshirts, I put my hair in pigtails. I stay up late and go out dancing.

On the other hand, I totally use Oil of Olay and have a bad knee and aches and pains. I complain about kids driving too fast. I know about the 80s, which was forever ago now.

Let me explain. I went skiing by myself. It’s hard – you have to know where you put the car and get all your own stuff. But it’s fun – you can do the same run 1000 times and stop when you want and talk to strangers on the chair lift.

I’ve never felt old or grown up. I don’t have those markers, other than being married- no mortgage, kids, whatever. So explain to me why talking to the guy on the lift and finding out he was 26 (I’m 27) made me feel like someone’s great great aunt?? I mean, I felt old! I usually assume anyone not in the Reindeer Club ski school is way waaay older than me. If you don’t look like a teenager, you’re 50. Apparently I’m closer to the latter now. And no one warned me! Today is the first day I’ve ever felt old. Hopefully it passes…

 

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Move It Or Lose It

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Locals are pretty serious about a powder day. They call in sick. They get up EARLY. They wait for the lifts to open, jockeying in line to be first chair. TB BB MK and I showed them all up and got on the lift first chair this morning. BB looks like a local skier. They didn’t mess with him. TB couldn’t believe people would think of pushing and shoving, until she saw them pushing and shoving. I, in keeping with being the biggest dork ever, make it up to Silver Lake lodge and realized that my lame knee makes it hard to ski-skate, and took forever to get to the next lift. Which makes the locals not on the first chair but all of the ones after ski by you shaking their heads wondering what you’re doing out there at all.

I wondered the same thing. At first I had to turn down MK’s offer to take me down some super scary stuff, and skied off on my own, trying to find a balance on the groomers that would not kill my knee and not transfer all that knee agility to my super tired legs. Not to mention it was the coldest since Christmas…I didn’t make it that long. TB came looking for me and took me down a blue that I always struggle with, then we went for broke and did one of our favorite black groomers, only it wasn’t groomed. TB’s lesson helped immensely and I found a way to ski that takes the pressure off my knee and makes me more sure footed. The bump run made me realize how to move and transfer weight easier. MK couldn’t keep up with me as we flew home. Great day to be out skiing. Even if now I feel like Jello.

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Facebook Faux Pas

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I can tell you here safely that we have a little joke. It started with my visiting company. These days, you get to talk about catching up and all the ways to do so when you’re face to face. You ask your friends if they prefer texts, phone calls, emails or Facebook. So the joke was about a friend that isn’t really a friend. Those happen on Facebook. She updates her status every couple hours, with the most mundane of her day. We all are guilty of being a bit impulsive or odd from time to time, but she was consistently cracking me up.

NH reminded me I could always choose to get less information on my home page about a particular person. But why do that when you can instead have a little fun? The game became “What is XX doing?” And we had some fun with it. On the slopes, at dinner. Every chance we got to check in.

Tonight after dinner, sitting by the fireplace watching the snow fall, I really wanted to write that I was “sitting by the fireplace watching the snow fall”. I can see how the mundane can have some charm. There was a ton of snow. I can’t wait to ski tomorrow. Maybe I could have mentioned that I was “anticipating some great skiing”. Or maybe after tomorrow I’ll be “in a cast”. I try to behave over there, you never know when Facebook is going to bite you. In this age, no one wants to be that guy. Facebook prevents me from gaining weight – you have to post pictures every so often! Facebook might prevent me from a divorce. I don’t want to have to change my status to “it’s complicated”! I kinda wish I knew where some wedding pictures were…people always have those.

It’s fun to use and abuse a social networking site. What’s your guilty pleasure?

 

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Dumb And Dumber

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Was filmed in Park City, I understand. My own version of dumb and dumber is skiing beyond my ability, listening to the three that surpass me (BB, TB, MK) and throwing myself repeatedly down many black and double blue runs. I mean, I can do all that now, I know what I’m doing, I know the right way to ski. It clicked, finally. But I knew beforehand that the right way was the way that hurt most, even though it should be easier, because of my crappy knees. So don’t tell my insurance I have a blog, ok? I’m putting off the doctor visit, but I managed to dislocate my knee (dumb) and then SKI the rest of a great day (dumber) on it. There was no way I couldn’t. It was too fun.

So now I can’t feel most of a leg. But I kinda feel badass. Ski season is fast approaching its end and I need to go out with a bang. It might be a bang and a cast, but that’s better than regret. Maybe it’s the sunshine or the new vitamins or even that idea that I can really be happy here, but I am not going to be a quitter. A time-outer, yes. But not a quitter. I’m going to try and get in as many good days as I can this last month we’re here.

As always with our transitions and and adventures our time here has flown by. Thanks to the love and support of my unrelenting therapist TB, I’m well enough again to live large and enjoy the time we have left.

ski therapy

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Going Out With A Bang

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There was a lot of funniness crammed into three days with this group we just had. The pre-visit entry was supposed to give you some idea. Then they get here and it’s a whirlwind and they’re gone and I’m still recovering. There aren’t that many stories to relate that wouldn’t include you wondering why we were laughing so hard. Those you had to be there kinds. If I quip “It’s kind of like eating a banana with a spoon” or “She’s the kind of girl that would floss her teeth with her hair” laugh with me even though there’s no context…

SF showed up with Freebirds. As you heard. That blew my mind and was pretty freaking awesomely thoughtful. You know how much we miss our Texas food. Actually, maybe you don’t. Even she seemed surprised how excited we were.

Yum!

Yum!

Everyone else showed up with gifts too! We got a handle of Titos and some Cedar Door mexican martini mix. It was late Thursday when they all got in so we passed out after meeting. We got up relatively (5 girls remember) early, hit Starbucks and bombarded the rental place in a flurry of pigtails and ribbons and silly name tags. Oh and monkey stickers. They were so not prepared.

Time to ski!

Time to ski!

Neither was the mountain! SF KB and CP had all never skied before. My input was worthless but with the tireless help of MK, TB and JH they kinda got the concept, and quickly. We took them up to the greens where I kept up with CP and TB was with KB and MK apparently threw SF into a tree and knocked her out or something. Typing that confused me!

The Rookies

The Rookies

We headed up to Silver Lake Lodge at 1:30 and met up with JV and his father and friend Brian. I love love love big groups and felt so great up there with (almost – long story) everyone talking and laughing and having good times. Even the broken headed SF couldn’t quit and we made it all the way to the top and back down to end the day.

Almost Everyone, JV took the pic.

Almost Everyone, JV took the pic.

Getting to ski with JV was great and we all were happy after a long day to come home to beers and the hot tub. SF and I went to go get dinner fixings…and the power went out. Such is my life. We all drove to the super crowded Main Street and ate all our weights times two in pizza wings and fry sauce. We played Cranium by the light of the fire and the headlamps of B and JV, the resident pilots. The power came on just in time for bed.

Davanza's Rules!

Davanza's Rules!

The boys left early and we got back to the mountain. Much fun and aches were had by all.

Day Two

Day Two

All the girls

All the girls

We got a little silly and took CP down a blue, and I also skied through MK’s legs which I’m pretty proud of but decided the pictures don’t look like what they are supposed to reflect and are therefore confusing and inappropriate…

I cooked that dinner the power previously prevented and TB brought over the free entertainment, aka SB, to amuse us all. MK survived 7 girls in the house at once. SF KB and CP left Sunday morning. TB JH and I shopped and ate out Sunday and she left Monday morning. JH got me a great thank you hat gift.

Our company is all over and I’m a little sad. I am just so thankful to all my friends that visited my mountains (LOL) and kept me happy and busy. Thank you ALL for coming. You are the greatest friends a girl could have!

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