Category: Skiing

Closing Out Ski Season Number 2

On By Outdoorsy LadyIn Skiing, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I discovered skiing in the 2015/2016 season. I took three lessons at Copper Mountain in Colorado and was officially hooked. This past year, my husband and I upped the ante and went with the Rocky Mountain Super Pass. This pass gave us unlimited days at Copper Mountain, Winter Park, and El Dora. Perks included a few days at Crested Butte, and six days at Steamboat Springs. We made it out to the snow about a total of about 10-12 times. We definitely got our passes worth. Last weekend we closed down Steamboat Springs. There was very little snow left overall, but I enjoyed that last chance to practice some turns. We were able to hang out with some new friends in a condo walking distance to the gondola. One of our new friends was taken down the mountain by ski patrol (She’s okay! Minor calf tear.), and ate like a queen at Laundry. Spring skiing is not my favorite thing in the world because I’ve been so spoiled by powder, but I seriously relished those last few turns of the season.

As I reflect back on learning more about the sport and the adventures of the past season, I feel a little bit more accomplished. I’ve definitely come a long way from where I started, but I also have so far to go to keep getting better. It’s an excellent metaphor for how I feel in my legal career at the moment. I feel like I have come a long way as a lawyer, but I have so much left to learn.

Skiing has taught me patience, pushed me out of my comfort zone at times, and helped me see some of the most beautiful views. I hope to be out there with those 70 and 80 year olds still on the mountain for a long time to come. My New Years resolution was to go down a black on purpose. I’ve been on 3 or 4 now so I achieved one resolution!

I was looking back at some photos, and thought I would do the highlights of the 2016/2017 season.  The first highlight is skiing fresh lines at Winter Park on New Years Day with my husband and dear friends. Definitely a great way to start out 2017. They took me on a run in the Mary Jane territory where I felt like I could ski anything depsite being out of my comfort zone on some of the larger bumps.

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New Year’s Day. Hello 2017.

Next, we tried El Dora outside of Boulder. This place felt very local. The mountain challenged me and was steep in parts. Also, I loved that they had a Twitter feed to explain traffic and parking.

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How we spent Super Bowl Sunday.

In February, I enjoyed a relaxing ski day at Copper Mountain with a friend. We agreed that some days its kinda nice not be scared out of our minds. Our significant others like to push our boundaries with skiing, and get us out of our comfort zone. It was nice to just ski greens and blues with no pressure for a day.

 

 

Steamboat Springs for the weekend was a dream. I mean I could not ask for a better experience. We went skiing with about 10 friends. We were all scattered all over the mountain. I found my Huevos on the Huevos run on Morningside. That was my first tree skiing experience. I had some epic wipe outs, but I can see why the Steamboat claims the champagne powder title. Skiing here was my very first powder experience. I’ll definitely be back.

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Huevos. Powder Daze.

The turning point in my technical ski skills this season happened during our Crested Butte trip. My husband had a conference call the Friday we arrived. I decided to go for a mid-season group lesson. I showed up for class where it there were two groups – one very beginner, and one very advanced expert crazy North Face people. I clearly did not belong in either group so I ended up being the only intermediate person with a private lesson. (Yes, I know I hit the jackpot that day.) I had a great instructor. He really beat my wedge out of me, which helped with confidence going down the steep stuff. He also taught me how to slide down tricky terrain to get out of dangerous conditions. One of my favorite parts of Crested Butte is the Umbrella Bar mid-mountain. Also, Crested Butte wins the nicest bathroom mid mountain award. Yes, that is a very important and nice perk. Either way, Crested Butte was a great town. Very local. Very friendly feeling. Also, the place where a fox came walking up to us in the parking lot.

Last great memory was spring skiing with a T-Rex, watching a camel cross the ski resort, and seeing a beaver hang out by the lift.

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Long story short, Colorado ski season 2016/2017 ski season was over before I knew it. It’s been a great season. We already purchased our passes for next year, but now we move over to hiking, camping, and climbing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Return of Adventure

On By Outdoorsy LadyIn Hiking, SkiingLeave a comment

 

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I’ve been away from blogging for a good long while, friends. I have been having so many unrecorded adventures that I thought it was high time to get back to writing some of them down again.

Some of the upcoming blog posts will not be in real time, but that’s okay. It’s like I was stocking up for the future and I’m ready to go back to sharing now.

I’ve been undergoing some life changes. I moved to a new state, got married, started a business, and started a book to boot. In case you thought that wasn’t enough, I’ve decided to go back to blogging. Why? Because in the midst of all these life changes I forgot to keep my body going with training outside often and good food so my health deteriorated both physically and mentally. I could use the excuse of winter, but when I wasn’t skiing I’ve been working, networking, and watching Netflix. Not exactly a picture of health. But now I want to come back. I want make this a focus again.

Here’s my promise. I’m going to do my best to write one post per week on Tuesdays. I’ve been inspired by REI’s recent marketing campaign #Forceofnature. I am not an athlete. I don’t pretend to play one on TV, but people tell me all the time that they love following me on Instagram for my adventures.

I’m just a tiny lady lawyer who has been having way too much fun in nature on the weekend. I’m still searching for a way to balance ambition in business with adventure. When I figure out the secret sauce – I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, if I can inspire more women to get outside, then I’m gonna do it.

People continuously ask me “how do you find the time to go outside, ski, hike, and play.” The answer is my soul requires these activities so I make time. According to REI, in a recent national survey, 72% of women said that when they’re outdoors they feel liberated and free. I don’t care if all you can do is walk in the park – Let’s do it. My 78-year old grandma walks 3 miles a day. By the way, she is not on any medication and is healthy as can be.

So here’s the plan. I’m going to get outside one day per week, and train to be outside 3 days per week. I live in Colorado, this should not be a challenge, but sometimes it is. Will you hold me to it? Want to join in? Easy. Tell me your outdoor activity. It could be something as small as I plan to walk the dog for two miles on Saturday, or I plan to ride my bike through a park. Do it. Even if you don’t want to. Even when the couch calls your name longingly. Even when you have a full schedule. If you can take one hour, or even 30 minutes, your life will thank you for it. Note: this does not mean go attempt something crazy, or injure yourself trying to take an awesome photo. Practice safe selfies please. I’m excited to let you all in on my recent hut trip experience. Until next Tuesday. Be a force of nature and go outside…please.

 

 

 

My Season As A Ski Bum

On By Outdoorsy LadyIn Skiing, work outs2 Comments

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I have a confession. I was a ski bum (read: unemployed because we just relocated cities) this season – and I kinda liked it. The snow, the challenge, and the views really attracted me to this sport. I really pushed my comfort zone this season. I gave myself many pep talks before going down my first blue hills. Also, my loving, completely well-meaning fiancé accidentally introduced me to my first black diamond. Luckily,  I survived and was proud of myself for taking on the challenge. My first ski season is coming to an end, but I’m so excited because we already bought our passes for next year.  

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 The views are always spectacular.

I went skiing for the first time in 2014 in Whistler. I know what you are thinking. Yes, I was a very lucky girl. I had a bit of a rocky start though. We went over Thanksgiving weekend. As an aside, this a great time to get a good deal to go Canada; especially if you leave on Thanksgiving day while everyone else is eating turkey. We took a bit of a gamble because it was Whistler’s “opening weekend.” There was not a whole lot of snow on the ground. Powder was definitely scarce. There was quite a bit of ice though. So my ski first lesson was essentially on ice.

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This Iconic Statue is the Whistler Mountain Inukshuk, created for Whistler as a Symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

The second day at Whistler, I decided to join Ben up at the “big kids lodge” on the top of the hill. I convinced him to let me ski a green run with him because after one lesson I thought I had this whole skiing thing down. I sure did not have that whole skiing thing down. I ended up on my back with my skis still going down the hill towards trees. Not the experience I was going for.  When I finally made it down to the lift to get back to where we needed to go I was so happy/relieved. The entire lift ride back to the gondola Ben was explaining how to get off the lift because my only ski lesson had occurred on the “magic carpet” where no lift was necessary. As we approached the unloading area, I was getting ready to follow all of Ben’s well laid out instructions when the lifty started saying something to us.  Well, I was so bundled up that I couldn’t hear what he was saying so I was trying to figure out what was going on, but I ended up missing the unloading point completely. I was still on the lift when it started turning to head back down the mountain. Ben started yelling at me to “jump” so I did…from about four feet off the ground. I loved Whistler, but I left with a few bruises – mostly to my ego.

Fast forward to this past winter, and my first ski season living in Colorado. We bought a Subaru when we moved here because we wanted to be as Colorado-ish as possible. Luckily, our Subaru came with two ski passes to Copper Mountain. I love Copper. It has a whole side dedicated to beginners. I loaded up on ski lessons. This time I took it slow and tried not to get ahead of myself. The instructors so far have been phenomenal. They push you without scaring you for life. I’m 30 now, but I totally want to be the 95-year old still skiing down the hill. I only discovered skiing recently, but I feel like it is a sport that I will continue with for as long as I can. I also LOVE the whole Après-ski concept. So far, my favorite is a glass of nice wine with a side of hot tub. I have a feeling I will be investing in a pair of skis very soon.

 

Here is a Après-ski cocktail recipe for the next time you find yourself in the lodge, sitting cozily by the fire, and peacefully unwinding from a day on the slopes

INGREDIENTS

    • 3 ounces hot strong-brewed coffee
    • 1 ounce Frangelico
    • 1/2 ounce Licor 43 (sweet citrus- and vanilla-flavored liqueur) or Navan
    • 1/2 ounce Cognac
    • 1 large dollop of unsweetened whipped cream
    • 3 coffee beansNow, in a mug, mix the espresso with the Frangelico, Licor 43 and Cognac. Top with the whipped cream and garnish with the coffee beans.