Vail: A Lucky Skier

The weekend that I understood powder high.

A wipeout - choosing between hitting the tree and wipeout...I chose the latter

Larry needed to host a client but he could not ski. I got the invite. This was huge. Because it meant I could avoid the inevitable ski traffic by going up Friday, and staying the night (it would have been at least a 2-hour delay).

Powder high is actually a thing. The obvious symptom is the uncontrolled screaming resulting from the chemical reaction between adrenaline and dopamine when the skier riding the snow down the slope, and it is especially pronounced in the tree area.

Friday was the first time that I experienced powder day as a decently skilled skier. I picked Game Creek Bowl and lapped there for the entire afternoon. If it got good snow and short line, why try to find a better chair lift? The next chair lift was always disappointing anyway.

Me and my pink lemonade battle suit

My legs were spent after a few runs. John B joined me in the last hour and gave me some tips. " Do you do yoga? Like chair pose, but lean back even more than you think is appropriate." Good tip.

I volunteered to be the chef of the night at Larry's place for the group - Larry, Erin, and Duncan. Baked sesame salmon, sautéed garlic mushroom and spinach, and coconut rice. Easy. If you have not noticed, I have hosted dinner at other's place several times. It is one of the best ways to make lasting memory with friends vs going to a restaurant. After the party, there were so much more to talk about in a at-home dinner party than in a restaurant They seemed to enjoy the meal too. I was pretty happy.

I got into the powder scene even more the next day. While friends were texting us about their 4-hour drive time from Denver, Larry (my boss) was willing to be our chauffeur and dropped us off at the base. Erin and I used the newly opened singles line to turn a 1 hour wait to a 10 minutes wait from the base, and found a good run with manageable lift line. Perfect logistics. (That run and lift shall remain a secret.)

I had to admit that there were a few uncontrollable screaming during my runs. It was exhausting but fun. I wish I had stronger legs. There were quite a few falls and wiped out involved, and some of them were timely captured by Erin. At one point I lost one of my skis at a gulch with bottomless snow - and I was with the client Duncan... It was probably the most frightening moment of the weekend. The relief after finding my ski was indescribable.....

Erin and the knee deep pow pow

With the ease of logistics, friendship made, powder skied, I felt like I was the luckiest skier this past weekend.