Ski Day #2

Well, it was good news / bad news this morning. The good news: It was about 5 degrees warmer than yesterday (14 degrees F). The bad news: It was cloudy and windy, so it actually felt colder. And it was snowing. Undeterred, we bundled up and headed out.

The ski conditions were much different today than yesterday, but we adapted quickly. I really enjoyed skiing in the fresh powder –it softens the bumps and makes everything quiet. And, of course, it’s beautiful. However, the cloudy skies and blowing snow greatly reduced visibility –sometimes so much that we had to stop and wait for it to die down a bit before we dared to continue.

After a morning skiing with our instructor, Lenny, Michele & I stopped for lunch. When we got back out into the cold, Michele decided she’d like to relax in the room this afternoon, so we headed down toward the lodge. After making sure she got back safely, I was on the lift heading up the mountain again for more fun.

I moved quickly from lift to slope to lift again and got in more than a dozen great runs without incident. Finally, about 4pm, I was out of gas –my knees & ankles were sore, my leg muscles nearly exhausted my toes & fingertips freezing. It was time to head for the hot tub! I got back down to the lodge about 4:30pm, which made for about 7 hours of skiing today.

Michele and I went to Main Street in downtown Park City for a while tonight. We enjoyed a nice meal at an Italian restaurant and did a little shopping. However, I was too cold and tired to do much walking around outside. We’re now back at the room doing laundry and getting packed up for the journey home tomorrow. I hope it goes as smoothly as the flight out.

PS: I didn’t want to jinx myself by saying this sooner, but I didn’t fall down once on this trip, which is a first for me!

Ski Day #1

We got up this morning at 6:45pm and started getting ready for our day on the slopes. We had breakfast in the room while I scanned my e-mail and checked the weather conditions: 10 degrees F, minus 5 F with the wind chill. BRRR! The good news is that it was forecast to be mostly sunny.

Michele & I visited a local ski shop in Tampa last Friday to purchase our own ski boots. We have been using rentals each time up to now, but as you might expect, rental boots are not the best quality and are frequently ill-fitting. We have been advised repeatedly that we will have a much better skiing experience if we invest in our own boots. So, after a couple hours of trying on boots and tweaking the fit, we have our own. While we were there, we also got some advice on how to dress for cold weather skiing: Tight thin base layer (underarmor), warm mid layer (sweatpants, sweater), and a lined outerlayer (snow pants, jacket) + various other items such as hat, mittens (warmer than gloves), neck gaiter, balaclava, and chemical hand & toe warmers.

Thus equipped, we donned our various layers of clothing to combat the frigid temperatures and headed outside. It is a short walk from our hotel to lifts. We picked up our lift tickets and then headed downstairs to the equipment rental to get our skis and poles. Unlike when we ski in March, the place was practically deserted. It was nice not having to fight our way through the crowds.

Once we had our equipment, we headed outside to meet our instructor for a ½ day lesson. We soon met up with “Lenny” from Russia. As we were chatting on the first chair-lift, we lamented the cold temperate. Lenny explained that he had joined the military at 18 and spent several years of service in Siberia. By comparison, this morning was practically balmy! In addition to being a good ski instructor, Lenny proved to be a very likeable and interesting character.

During one of our first runs, Lenny spun around and started skiing backwards, so he could see us better. Much to my surprise, Michele copied his move and they were both skiing backwards looking at me. It soon became clear that Michele did not know her next move. Worse yet, she could no longer see Lenny. I became increasing alarmed as she continued to ski backward down the slope; unable to stop or turn back forwards. I hoped that neither of us would get any injury on the trip, but especially not on the first run! Luckily, the slope flattened out a bit and she finally came to a halt. Well, no harm done, I figured she had learned her lesson from that experience, but she continued to try it again and again throughout the morning –I was a nervous wreck!

Despite my anxiety over Michele’s stunts, we had a great time. Even though it was cold, we had clear-blue skies and plenty of sunshine. As we were skiing along a ridge with a beautiful mountain vista behind us, I asked Lenny to take our picture. The cold was literally painful when I took off my glove to fish the camera out of my coat. We got the photo, but I didn’t take my gloves off again after that!

After our lesson, we stopped for lunch and then skied a couple more hours. Michele was feeling tired and wanted to head back, but we kept missing the trail we were looking for and ended up at the wrong lift twice! Finally, we found the correct trail and got back to the lodge about 6 hours after we left. Not bad for the first day.

After a long soak in the hot tub and relaxing in the room for a while, we went out for dinner. Can you believe our waiter was from Tampa? Small world, indeed. After dinner, we came back to the room and Michele watched a movie while I watched the Lightning game on my laptop (we won). I am looking forward to another day on the slopes tomorrow!

Getting There

After picking up the kids from school, we drove to the airport for our 5:15pm flight to Salt Lake City. We hugged & kissed the boys goodbye and then waved as Pat drove them away and left us standing on the curb. As we got settled in on the plane, Michele said she missed them already!

Besides a little turbulence at one point, the flight was very pleasant and uneventful. I’m sure glad Delta has a direct flight –it makes it so much easier! We talked, read, ate, watched a movie, and were soon arriving at our destination. It was snowing lightly when we touched down around 8pm.

We got our bags, loaded up the rental car, and then began the 30 minute drive up into the mountains to Park City. The temperature was well below freezing, so I drove slowly and carefully in case there was ice on the road. As we were leaving the city, traffic slowed down and we saw flashing lights up ahead. I felt my cautiousness was justified as we passed a car that had spun out and crashed into the median guardrail.

After what seemed like an eternity on the highway, we finally reached the Park City exit. We stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few supplies, then got checked into our hotel. It is supposed to be COLD tomorrow, but I think we brought all the right gear. I’m looking forward to getting out on the mountain!