get me off this mountain!!

this weekend i ventured to colorado for a fun-filled birthday ski trip. my best friend, andrea hit a milestone birthday and we chose the beautiful mountains in winter park as our destination.

we flew in thursday night to abominable weather. the winds were blowing and the snow was coming down. we made our way to jill and nick's place to get a few winks in before we left for winter park early the next morning.

upon waking up friday morning, we discovered that portions of the roads were closed due to 1) a gas spill from a semi, 2) a car fire, and 3) poor road conditions. the usual 90-minute drive turned into three long hours. our jeep commander got us through the switchbacks and to our destination safely. we missed our scheduled ski lessons but were able to get to our fantastic condo early. after lunch and some last-minute ski shopping, we made our way to the tubing hill for an hour of wind-burning fun down a huge hill.

saturday we made our way to winter park resort for ski lessons. oh.my.god. SO fun! during the beginning of our lessons i though "i've got this! this is going to be great!" of course the 2 meter grade we started on was nothing compared to our next hill. there we learned to 'wedge', turn left and right, and most importantly, how to get up after a fall. only a few falls in the morning lesson, but i was ready for more skiing! after lunch, we decided to go to another hill, 'green', of course. on the ski left up to the hill, i knew something was not right. we were going extremely high, and staring at all the experts beneath us was not good for my confidence. we get to the top and i look down. holy.jesus.god. where was the ski lift back down the mountain?! there was only one way down (without looking like a complete "pussy" [thank you, amanda] and calling a snowmobile to take me down to the base). so i begin my descent. i wedged, but it wasn't working. soon i was flying down (i surely had to be going 63 mph!). CRASH! WIPEOUT! it was definitely one for the movies. snow everywhere, ski half way up the mountain. this continued for many more falls down the mountain. finally i make it to the base, only after screaming for someone to get me of this mountain, pissed off yells, laughs of pure hatred for the sport of skiing. but after making it down, i was in love with skiing. while the pain in my ankles from the ski boots ended my day of skiing (and the appeal of a beer in the lodge), i had tingles of anticipation for my next skiing adventure.

it was a great weekend! oh, and poor bears, but yea colts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWAN!