Ski Season is Here!


Even late lasst night, you could almost smell the snow in the air.
It's a deep, cold, subtle smell, that's almost as much of a innate sensing, as a smell.

The snow today made me happy! Even if it DID make my drive to work slightly more treacherous than normal (you know, river pirates) - my lightweight little car needs to pack some heat in the trunk...

Skiing this weekend was amazing! Friday was some good fun teaching some newbies (Kate and Vall) & looking out for our repeat offender (Doug). Davey's brilliant addition of radios to the mix resulted in hilarious call names, and us acting like we owned the place. Sorry Greg, Anal Thunder is much easier to remember than Yankee Bravo. :-)

Saturday the Big Kids went skiing. The first weekend of the season isn't necessarily the best weekend to go two days in a row. We were sore & tired in a LOT of ways, but desperately kept our spirits up. Each run brought some problem or other, whether it was complete blindness due to snow & fogging glasses, or boots hurting several legs - we went the distance. Mostly. ;-)

Which brings me to our next adventure... Maine. We'll get in some more skiing before then, I'm sure, but:

How do you go from this...
Camelback Mountain, the most... varied & difficult resort
in the nearby Pocono area - 33 Trails

To this...?
Sunday River, in Bethel, MAINE - 131 Trails
And four times the size of anything I've ever seen...

Ever since I broke my two front teeth in half as a kid, I've exercised caution in a lot of 'falling' sports, particularly where hard ground is involved.

This past weekend Davey & I challenged ourselves by hitting an intimidating looking hill with moguls and everything at Camelback.... we were... less than impressive. But we did it, despite not being in the best condition to try it.

In order for me to *not* die in Maine, several things need to happen... Battle Plan!!!:

I need better face protection from the cold -- AND goggles that I can live with that won't fog up.
I still think I need better gloves.... and something has to happen in the neck area. Otherwise I'm quite warm.

My ski boots need tweaking. Friday I did okay, Saturday I put them on, and my left foot failed at life, my big toe specifically. Either they need to be heat molded again, or I might need bigger boots... I *have* had them since high school.

I need to get to the gym and start doing a lot more lower work with my legs on the weights.

And more skiing needs to be done!
Building stamina back up for tackling hills is the best thing to do aside from hitting the gym.
I feel I'd have been better able to tackle more difficult hills if I weren't feeling so exhausted come the end of Saturday (that and the knot in my right thigh)

I'm very excited. Sunday River has ski clinics for skiers to better learn advanced tactics. I've never HAD advanced lessons, just rudimentary instructions from my Dad & things I've picked up from watching people. This prospect is the even MORE exciting.

Davey & I *aren't* Greg. But we'll do our best, & hopefully learn alot, and keep laughing our asses off while doing it. That's all that matters. I'll try my best to be as ready to tackle Maine as I can be by March 6th...

Whiskey Tango, out. :-)