15,037 Vertical Feet - Be An Optimist

Everything seemed to be going not so right today. I got up late. I locked Mom's neck warmer in the one time use locker. I got half-way to the lift with my skis and mine and Mom's poles before realizing that I still had my cat-tracks on. I had problems with my right boot ALL day. Mid-Mountain Restaurant was sold out of what I wanted to eat for lunch. Whole Foods "forgot" the order Mom called in this morning and it wasn't ready when I went to pick it up. The chili powder we used in the turkey chili Mom made tonight was actually spicy chili powder. I'm afraid to walk up the stairs after I write this.

But, since I'm an optimist...

I got to the mountain on time, even though I slept late. The one time use lockers do open (duh) so I was able to get Mom's neck warmer out. Vic at Cole Sport gave us a token to re-close it again. I am perfectly capable of walking back to Cole Sport to take off my cat-tracks. After ending the day early and skiing "only" 15,037 vertical feet because of my boot problems, the technicians at Cole Sport were able to tinker with the boot and show me how to properly put it on and buckle it up. I'll be testing it out tomorrow. I got a really good meatball sub for lunch instead of the roast turkey that I originally wanted. Whole Foods was able to get it together and re-make the order in less than 10 minutes and provided good conversation while I waited. The turkey chili spiciness was easily calmed down by sour cream and whole wheat spaghetti, and it still tasted delicious. And I haven't fallen on the stairs... yet.

I'm glad to be here in Park City embracing my inner ski bum. The little things can't ruin the experience that I am having. Some days don't run as smoothly as I'd like them to, but I have to remember to look on the bright side. As my mom likes to say, "If it wasn't for the optimist, the pessimist wouldn't know how happy he wasn't".

Tomorrow I will have been in Utah for two weeks. Half of my ski adventure will be over. But since I'm an optimist, I still have two weeks left to ski!

Day Off - Uber Girly

Skiing is a workout, so rest days are needed. I know that when my brother comes for 10 days, there is little to no chance I will be getting a break. He's going to want to take advantage of every second he can on the mountain. I'm tired already just thinking about it.

During my day off today, I enjoyed doing the simplest of things that I don't do when I am going to be spending the day skiing. First, I slept late. That was utter perfection. After a long morning shower, I put on real clothes, as opposed to long johns and ski gear. I wore my hair down which felt great after having it in a braid all the time under my helmet. I wore my beloved Uggs instead of ski boots. That might have been the best part of the day (toe freedom!). Finally, I put on mascara, which made me feel uber girly. For some reason wearing goggles that make me look like a bug doesn't make me feel girly.

Mom and I explored Redstone this afternoon. We went to the Post Office and got some postcard stamps, did a huge grocery shop at Smith's, and then headed to a nail salon to get manicures. Oh, what a pleasure that was! My hands, especially my cuticles, were getting so dry from the low humidity content of the air here. The nail technician cut my cuticles perfectly so there are no snaggled edges that I could bite off (nail biting is a terrible habit of mine). But, the best part about the manicure was getting a parafin wax dip for my hands! It's included in the manicure here (it's not back East) becuase everyone's hands get so dry. It felt awesome and looked funky. My mom joked that with the wax on her hands they looked younger! Silly Mom.

After experiencing the waxy goodness on our hands, Mom and I decided that the next time we go we will get manicures AND pedicures. I'm sure we'll be glad to have our feet pampered after all the time they spend in ski boots.

Tomorrow it's back to skiing in Park City. Now that I've had a day of rest, I'm confident I'll be able to get up to 20,000 vertical feet again. Until then...

16,284 Vertical Feet - Skier Safety - Mardi Gras and the Bra Tree

Skiing is a sport. It's supposed to be fun. But, it's also a dangerous sport. A skier can injure themselves, or others on the mountain. There are all kinds of obstacles when skiing; trees, rocks, sticky snow, chair lift posts, other skiers... the list goes on. Here are a few tips to help you be a safer skier or snowboarder.

1. Read the Skier Responsibility Code. At any mountain resort, if a ski patroller witnesses a skier or rider violating the code, that person will lose lift privileges. No questions asked.

2. Wear a helmet. It's just the smart thing to do. I do not care if it's not fashionable. There are so many brands and styles for helmets that anyone can find a helmet to suit his or her style.

3. Stay withing boundaries posted by ski patrol. Boundaries are often marked off with ropes or poles. They're made pretty obvious so you can't miss them. Ski patrol blocks off unsafe terrain because of avalanche susceptibility, lack of snow cover, or any reason they deem unsafe. Respect the ski patrol and do not ski out of bounds.

4. Know how to contact ski patrol when on the mountain. At Park City, ski patrol is contacted by going to one of their bases directly (usually located near lifts) or through a lift attendant or other mountain employee. At the end of the day, ski patrol sweeps the mountain searching for anyone who is stuck on the mountain for whatever reason. If you are able, and no one can help you, simply dial 911 from your cell phone (because I know you're all skiing with you cell phones). Be aware of where you are skiing to best inform 911 operators if you should need to contact them, which I hope you don't.

5. Take a lesson. Ski instructors are trained to teach not only skiing skills, but mountain safety. They teach necessary skills such as how to get on and off a chair lift (not as easy as it looks) and how to control your equipment.

6. Finally, one of my BIGGEST pet peeves... Do NOT wear headphones blaring music while skiing or riding! Yeah, it's cool to hear your favorite tunes while cruising down an awesome groomer. But, it's not safe. Seriously, it's not. Shocking, considering you can now buy a helmet that has built in earphones, or ski jackets that have places for your headphones to feed through. Tsk tsk ski gear manufacturers. If you're listening to music, you can't hear when a fast skier is coming up behind you, which means you might go into their path and have a collision. Not cool. Save the music for on the lift or while waiting for the shuttle.

Remember, just because you consider yourself a good skier does not mean you are invincible. People of all ages and abilities can get hurt on the mountain. My mom, while she was a ski instructor in Aspen, dislocated her shoulder. Why? She was skiing while tired, lost control, and fell. She's since gotten a pin in her shoulder. I know a snowboarder who fell in a terrain park and cut a HUGE gash in his leg that should have gotten stitches. He didn't get them, tsk tsk. He simply put a band-aid on it and kept riding (typical snowboarder). When I was younger and in ski school, I was flying down the NASTAR race (hoping for a gold) and I fell and hurt my knee. I got taken to ski patrol headquarters in a toboggan. My mom found out by seeing her name on the information board at the ski lift! I'm sure she proceeded to freak out. My brother, saw the whole thing happen from a chair lift he was on.

What has prompted this entry about safely, you are probably wondering. Well, two things happened today that were examples of NOT skiing safely.

1. Mom and I were skiing a gorgeous black diamond run called Crescent. Mom always skis ahead of me so I can follow her on black diamonds because then I can help her up if she falls. My mom, an extremely safe skier, was skiing to the side as she usually does so she can only get passed on one side because she is aware that she is slower than many skiers. It is always good to be aware of your ability. I was above her and on the opposite side of the run when I heard the sound of a fast skier coming down. I don't have eyes in the back of my head, so I couldn't see the skier, and I stopped. I looked at my mom, who apparently also heard him and slowed down as well. The skier passed my mom on the inside going WAY too fast. Now remember, Mom is skiing on the side so passing on her inside is like passing on the side of the road with the solid white line while driving. NOT SAFE. He missed pummelling her by a foot, maybe. If my mom had been wearing headphones, she wouldn't have heard the skier and would not have slowed down, and he surely would have hit her, or to avoid hitting her would have gone completely off the trail into the trees.

I saw the whole thing happen, and was completely appalled. This guy, who probably thought he was being super macho by skiing super fast down a black diamond, almost crashed into my little mom. He didn't stop to apologize, he just kept going at the same speed. If he were skiing safely, he would have realized there was a skier in front of him and moved to a different part of the run, or he would have simply slowed down. Because he did neither of these, I doubt if he even was a "good" skier. He was probably out of control and violating the Skier Responsibility Code. All I have to say is, "What a schmuck!"

2. Mom and I were riding up the Pioneer lift, under which is a double fall line run filled with moguls and trees. The bottom part is really nice, but to get to it is a total nightmare. One of my goals is to get to the bottom half of Pioneer run by way of Blue Slip Bowl (not the area under the lift), so named because it's a HUGEly steep run. As we're approaching the top of the lift my mom points up and says, "Look, there's skiers coming down the run." We like to watch skiers do the crazy things we won't do. It's good lift entertainment. As we got closer, we realized the skiers were two very small children (about 6 and 8 from what we judged) with their dad.

The children were sitting down trying to untangle their skis, sliding down the mountain, and very very unhappy. We could hear them whimpering from up in the lift! This dad was obviously irresponsible and unsafe. You can't enter this run without seeing how advanced it is. Mom and I, feeling bad for these children all the way at the top of this advanced run went to the ski patrollers at the top of he lift (they have a base there) and told them about the kids and their dad, because we were worried about them getting down without getting hurt. The ski patrollers had just come off the lift themselves and had seen it all. Do you know what they said to us? "They're fine, they'll make it down." Which is probably true, BUT these kids were not happy, and they will probably never want to go skiing again, which is a shame because skiing is so much fun.

As a former lifeguard, I was completely shocked by the response of these two ski patrollers. The main job of a lifeguard is to PREVENT accidents before they happen. I would think the same would hold true for a ski patroller. I often see them waving down fast skiers who are approaching "slow zones". I thought the ski patrollers would at least go down to where they were skiing and stay with them while they got to the bottom of the run, just to make sure nothing happened to them. Because, honestly, I haven't seen a single person going down that run any time I ride Pioneer lift. This means that dad was going to have a hard time getting someone to go to ski patrol for him if one of his kids got hurt.

On a lighter note, today is Fat Tuesday which literally translates into Mardi Gras! In honor of Mardi Gras, ski areas often go all out and celebrate with beads and mini parades. I remember when I was younger I always wanted the most and the biggest beads. I kept them for a long time hanging on the side of my bed. But, the best way to use Mardi Gras beads in a ski area, is to throw them on a tree! This tree is also often the "bra tree". I've been looking for a good one hear in Utah that can compare to the awesome ones I've seen in Vail and Aspen Highlands. I haven't found one that's quite as good, but this one is the closest I could find. I've been eyeing it for weeks, seeing if it will "grow" and today, it looked better than ever with all it's new Mardi Gras beads! I couldn't resist sharing with you.

Because we got to a late start today (noon!) and we were not used to Park City after being in Deer Valley for three days, we didn't ski that much and spent a lot of time on lifts or looking for where we were going. We skied only 16,284 vertical feet. After two over 20,000 vertical feet days, I'm OK with that.

Tomorrow is our "scheduled" day off. Mom and I are going to explore Redstone with our shopping cart, Albert. Until then...

For more information about ski safety visit the National Ski Patrol website at: http://www.nsp.org

25,430 Vertical Feet - Condo Tour

I. Am. Tired. Exhausted. Pooped. Can I go to sleep now, please?

Today, I blew yesterday away and skied 25,430 vertical feet. Am I insane? Possibly. I calculated that I rode up a chairlift 23 times, skied over 18 different trails (many multiple times), and fell asleep on the bus ride home twice. Today is the "do or die" day. I can stop now, and be happy, but if I keep going and push through the tired and the pain, I will become a better skier, and that is the ultimate goal. I impressed myself today; I skied more vertical feet, but skied slower because I was working on my technique. I almost fear the day I get to 30,000 vertical feet.

Because I'm so tired/exhausted/pooped and don't really have the energy, eye, or finger strength to keep typing, I am going to leave you with a video I took a couple of days ago. It's a walk through virtual tour of our condo. I really love our condo, and now you can see why.



Tomorrow it's over to Park City. I wonder what it will be like after 3 consecutive days at Deer Valley. Until then...

Goal Accomplished! 23,250 Vertical Feet

Thank you George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two of the USA's greatest leaders, for having birthdays so close together thus causing the creation of President's Day, a national holiday in the middle of prime ski season. Do you know what that means? Lift lines, for the entire long weekend.

Yesterday wasn't as bad as today, probably because some people were still traveling, and tomorrow probably won't be as bad as today because some people will be traveling back home. But today... I'm officially proclaiming my spoiled-ness. I haven't had to wait more than 30 seconds on a lift line before today. I'm estimating that I waited for about an hour on lift lines today. But, that is the reality of skiing, you can't go down unless you go up, and there's not as many choices for up as there are for down. Darn Newton and his law of gravity!

Needless to say, I am glad Mom had the brilliant idea of skiing at Deer Valley this entire long weekend as opposed to Park City. Deer Valley has a limit to how many tickets they sell on any given day. Knowing this, we got on the "early" bus at 9:15am and were at the mountain by 10:00am. We were lucky we got to the mountain "early" because Deer Valley reached capacity today. After taking off our boot protecting cat tracks and waiting on two lift lines to get up to the top of Bald Mountain, it was 10:30 by the time we started our first run, Tycoon to the Sultan Express lift. After we came back up the lift we decided to go down Stein's Way, a black diamond (!), the top of which is along the ridge of Bald Mountain. All I can say is, what a view! It took my breath away. See for yourself.



Mom and I even successfully got another Mother/Daughter combo to take a picture of us along the ridge with the gorgeous view in the background!

Mom and I decided that on this beautiful sunny day (we've been getting a lot of those) we would head over to Lady Morgan and sample the groomed run of the day, Magnet, another black diamond (look at us go!). After Lady Morgan we ventured to Empire, Flagstaff, and finally Bald Eagle Mountain to get us back to the lodge. We hit five out of six of Deer Valley's peaks today! We were moving all over the mountain, and it all flowed seamlessly.

Because we started our day earlier than we have been, and because I skied until 4:20 (Mom stopped earlier), I was able to ski enough that I reached my goal of 20,000 vertical feet in a day! 23,250ft to be exact! Getting up early was totally worth it. For the record, my legs/ankles/back are tired! To celebrate my accomplishment, Mom and I relaxed for 30 minutes in the hot tub overlooking the nature preserve at our condo. What a great way to end Valentine's Day, with my original Valentine, my mom.

Tomorrow it's back to Deer Valley to steer clear of the Park City crowds. Until then...

Icicles! - 18,730 Vertical Feet

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by icicles. Not the tiny little ones you sometimes see, but the humongous ones that make you feel like you're in a winter wonderland.

Today, Mom and I stumbled across the most amazing icicles. We decided to head over to Little Baldy Peak in Deer Valley to try a double blue called Jordanelle to take us to the gondola. While the run was a total dud (another glorified catwalk), the view from the gondola was pretty nice. Deer Valley has lots of luxury private homes all over the mountain, and you can see a bunch of them from the gondola. But, unless you're parking at the gondola, there is really no reason to take it. The runs worth skiing on Little Baldy Peak are accessible from the Deer Crest chair lift, and you can see the luxury homes in other parts of the mountain.

Some of the houses.


Once we headed out of the catwalks of Little Baldy Peak, we headed over to Bald Mountain and skied down 5 times. After lunch at the Silver Lake Lodge, we skied down Flagstaff Mountain 5 times. When we got to the base at the end of the day, we decided to go up Carpenter again to take us to our last run; Big Stick, a great double blue with perfect long bumps and soft snow. Today's total vertical feet was 18,730ft. I'm still trying to make it to 20,000ft, so I guess I'll have to wake up earlier (I thought this was a vacation). Until then...

Me and Mom riding the gondola.

Old Town Park City and Meet the Owners

Mom and I decided to take the day off from skiing today so that we could meet the owners of the condo we are renting from who were in town for the day. This was Mom's first experience meeting someone she met online (www.vrbo.com), and it was fun to watch her excitement! Mom and E had exchanged e-mails and talked on the phone for close to 8 months before this meeting, so they "knew" each other pretty well (well, at least E knew Mom needed quiet to sleep and Mom knew that E didn't want party animals in her condo). When E and R got here it was like we had all known each other for years! Mom, was her usual chatty self (which you can either love or hate). We talked about how we were enjoying the condo and how cozy it is, their upcoming wedding and E's dress, and even about my blog! We also showed them how Mom had alphabetized their spice rack (yes, she really did). Turns out E and R are reading my blog (Hi!) and are enjoying it, which makes me very happy. Here's a photo of them in the condo before they left.



After E and R left, Mom and I headed into Old Town Park City. We rode the express brown/#8 bus from the condo straight into the town, which is absolutely charming. The main street is dotted with boutiques selling high end clothing, Native American art and jewelry, souvenir shops with post cards and magnets and t-shirts galore, and tons of restaurants ranging from family and budget friendly to expensive date night places.

Mom and I popped into many of the shops where we snagged some postcards to send to friends back home. In one shop we found a great hat for Mom. I really don't like the hat she's been wearing for years (fashion snob?) and she enlisted me to find her a new hat that wasn't itchy and that met my fashion standards. Well, I found her an adorable hand knit wool hat with a fleece lining so she can be warm AND fashionable. She loved it so much she wore it out of the store! Mission accomplished.

We decided to have dinner in town before we headed back to the condo to watch the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. We chose Main Street Pizza and Noodle, a wallet and family friendly "Italian" restaurant. We were seated by a hostess, ordered and paid at a counter (12% tip is included), drinks were self serve, and then the food was brought to us. I'd never been in a restaurant with this setup, but it seemed to work. And I must say, that for a family restaurant, it wasn't noisy at all. After our meal of a 10" pizza and two house salads (maybe even TOO much food for the two of us) we got back on the express bus to get back to the condo.

Taking a day off was very relaxing. It was nice to wear regular shoes and have my hair down! Tomorrow we're going to Deer Valley because Park City will be crowded for the long weekend. Until then...