We drove up to Winter Park the morning of the 28th, got our lift tickets, rented demo skis (if we were going to do this, we were going to go all out) and then got ready to ski.
It was snowing when we started out, but it soon cleared up. We parked at the base of Mary Jane and busted our butts over to Vasquez Ridge to start our day ... which was a genius idea because very few people were on that side of the resort. A few runs, we carved our own path in six inches of fresh powder.
Brandon almost biffing it.
We had a lot of fun getting used to skis again and getting used to the powder. Most people love powder - "OMG powder! Woo!" - but the reality is, unless you're actually a pretty decent skier, powder is rough to ski in. It takes completely different muscles to ski in it and ski in it well. Luckily, even though both of us haven't skied in years, we both grew up doing it, so it wasn't bad.
One of the best parts of the day happened early on while on a lift on Vasquez - one of the guys we were sharing the quad with said that he saw us tearing down the mountain - going "a million miles per hour" (it felt like it, too) and that we must be in really good shape. We're not really in shape right now - totally had the post-IM weight gain - but it's really nice to know that either we've retained some fitness or at least it looks like we have.
After spending an hour or so at Vasquez, we moved over to the actual mountain of Winter Park for a bit. We had a mid-morning snack at the base (and I had some delicious Skratch) and then we skied the main mountain for a bit before snagging lunch at Snoasis. Mmm, crappy resort food.
After that, we busted our butts over to Mary Jane so we could hit up Parsenn Bowl before the lift closed. Operation: success.
After the Bowl, we continued skiing the Jane a bit. Tried a few moguls - I still kind of remember how to handle them, but I definitely don't have the confidence (or the leg/stabilizer strength) to do them anymore. Maybe if I skied more often ...
As it got later in the day, I had to start pausing on runs due to pain in my quads. That's another thing - if we did this more often, I will definitely need to up the leg strength, particularly the stabilizing muscles so I don't screw up a knee.
We quit about an hour before lift close - I took my first tumble and Brandon took another so we figured it was time. We changed, turned in our rentals and then enjoyed a very well-deserved beer.
It only took me 27ish years after I started skiing to enjoy après-ski.
The day was a ton of fun and we both decided that we'd maybe like to try and do this more often next year - maybe get a lift ticket four-pack. Since we both work non-traditional jobs, we can go up mid-week and avoid the crowds (ideal; our longest wait that day for a lift was maybe two minutes) which is so much more enjoyable.
However, if we do decide to ski a bit more, I hope we do it when we're back in shape so we don't always end up like we did that night at the hotel.
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