Category: Uncategorized

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Injury – The Comeback Kid

On By Outdoorsy LadyIn Uncategorized, work outsLeave a comment

A few weeks ago, I decided to get back to running. I had been running before we moved to Colorado. I was comfortably averaging 5-6 miles. Also, I was working out six days a week doing yoga, pilates, and boot camp. Then we moved. The holidays came. I didn’t want to pay for a gym membership. That was back in November. You can do the math. So I kinda stopped all activity –  except for walking the dog and skiing, of course. It was winter…and cold. I wrote about excuses in an earlier post.

I did try to make the occasional kick boxing or yoga class. Life happens. I totally get it. Spring came and I realized that I have five months to get in shape for my wedding. FIVE MONTHS. So I registered for the Froyo 5k with a friend.  I figured I could do it no problem. My body has always been able to just keep going without injury so I pushed it. Let’s be honest who doesn’t love running knowing there is froyo at the end of the race. I trained for about a week. I ran the 5k just fine. So I thought. When I got home my back was killing me. I couldn’t move much for three days. The pain was so intense that my face would just crunch up into a prune. So much for progress.

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This photo was pre-run, pre-froyo, and pre-pain

I  did learn something. First off, I am no longer 20 years old. Running is something you have to ease into and work towards. The body is an amazing thing, but you have to give it time to adapt. This may seem like common sense, but sometimes we can get wrapped in a goal that we try to take a short cut to speed up the results. Don’t do it. I needed a massage, acupuncture, and another massage to get back to semi-normal. I know the massages sound great, but they were not enjoyable for the most part.

I’m happy to report that I made a full recovery. I started out walking again. Slowly increasing my mileage this time. Then I went on a couple of two-three mile hikes. When that went well, I upped it even more.  In fact, the whole family recently went for an 8 mile hike with no problems.

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The whole family also did a rock scramble!

I also started using Freeletics. It’s an app that has a warm-up, body weight circuit training (squats, sit-ups, push-ups, burpees, etc.), and stretching.  So far I like that it takes about twenty  to thirty minutes. I’ll post more about it when I see the results, but I think this combined with the hiking this summer will help get into shape for the wedding. I’m going to remove running from my routine for a while. I do want to run a half-marathon eventually, but I’m going to actually do some more strength training first.  Also, the weather has been amazing so it is time to get outside, and have some more adventures.

Spring Mindfulness

On By Outdoorsy LadyIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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Photo: Spring in Cambria, CA.

Breathe. Love yourself. Be mindful. Do one thing every day that scares you. Find your happiness. These are the things that self-help books, yoga mats, gurus, and even athletic clothing lines are telling women to do every day. Why do we need to be reminded to do these things? Shouldn’t we be born knowing how to: love ourselves, breathe, and be able to identify the present moment we are experiencing even if it just consists of staring at another YouTube video?

Yes. And I do think we are born knowing how to do all of those things, but that intuitive knowledge leaves us at some point. I can’t imagine why…I mean, on a daily basis, we receive all kinds of messages about expectations from society that women need to look a certain way, be successful, and raise families. Or depending on the country – have no freedom, education, or ability to choose who to love.

Most of us sit behind our desks at work fantasizing about these lives we could have if only we had more time, money, motivation, and courage. Why can’t we be happy in that moment? Lots of people I know are searching…searching for that ONE thing that will make them happy. Love. A better job. A different life.

I know these people. I am one of them. If only I hadn’t taken out six figures of higher education debt, I would totally be a living the life of my dreams right now. Well… no that’s a lie. I would probably be sitting behind a desk somewhere wondering why I wasn’t living the life I’m living now because that is the way it goes. Some people travel to different countries to find happiness in an eat pray love-y way. I’m more of a travel a reasonable distance from my house to someplace pretty to see something new to find that moment of presence/mindfulness/happiness.

I’ve long been a proponent of being outside to remember what we are inherently born knowing how to do. When you’re climbing a rock you have to remember to breathe. When you step a foot on the trail you have to look around you in wonder, and be present. When you get to the top of the mountain, or you ski down that hill you hit that sweet spot beyond your comfort zone where life really happens. It’s in those moments where life breathes into you and says: you can keep going. I truly believe that nature reconnects us with those messages that get lost in the fray. I have absolute zero statistical data to back this up because I went to law school and hate math that doesn’t involve money.

The truth is that no one is happy 24/7. We all have to endure things we don’t enjoy – dishes, cleaning, work, and oil changes. You have a million things stopping you, but one reason to do it. You. It is time to reconnect. There is a reason why all these self-help books, yoga mats, and gurus charge you money and you eat it up. That shit works. The best part is you don’t have to be a crazy rugged athlete to go do a simple walk in the woods or by a beach. Plus, its free!

I live for my weekend adventures and it’s the first day of spring so start planning your escapes ladies. I’ll share a few of my own:

  1. Climb my first Colorado 14’er
  2. Visit Moab
  3. Go on a rafting trip

What’s yours?