Our January Ski Weekend: Copper

I set up a 10:00 am lesson with a fantastic Copper Ski and Ride School instructor, Steve Wyman. I had previously taken a lesson from Steve in December, so I was really glad that he was available to teach me.

It started off sunny in Keystone, but by the time we got to Copper, it was snowy. I got to put on all my new ski gear. The only thing I had to rent was snowblades and skis. These blades were longer than the ones I had last month. I liked them better, too.



I didn't realize it, but Jeff was skiing around behind me (and in some cases in front of me) taking pictures and video. So all the photos are courtesy of him. Here I am in the morning with my ski instructor in the orange jacket. It was quite snowy but it was about 30º, so it wasn't too bad.



You can see it cleared up in the early afternoon. This was a great view off of the Roundabout run, a green on the western part of the mountain.



Now I am on skis, 130s that were longer than the snowblades. Steve was amazingly patient. He would give me instructions and pointers, then he'd tell me, "Follow my tracks." I would try to remember everything he'd told me and apply it.

He showed me some neat ways to make sure that you are centered and not leaning toward the mountain on a slope. I learned, getting off of a lift, that this is a great way to tip over. Yikes! That was my only fall all day, though I had to take my skis off to get up. Talk about a bug on its back! I'm glad that no one got a picture of that.



Here we are getting to enjoy a little of the view ourselves. I think I spent more time looking at where I was going instead of looking at the super view, but I guess that is the way it is supposed to be! You can see that there weren't too many other people out there. Especially as it got past three o'clock, we had the slopes mostly to ourselves. It was marvelous. I got to practice giant turns without worrying about someone who was fast-moving coming up behind me.

Speaking of which--there was a poor child who was learning to ski. She looked maybe to be four years old. At that age, Steve explained to me, they do not use poles. They do not have the upper body muscle development for the poles to be of much use. So they whiz around on just the skis. A family was up on the Roundabout slope (or perhaps it was West Ten Mile, and they were just letting the little girl go. Either they didn't teach her to slow, stop and turn, or she wasn't doing it. She was zooming toward a stand of trees and a steeper slope at an alarming rate. The mom really sped up to catch her, and in the process just knocked the poor thing over. It was like a cartoon where I expected to hear a bowling ball noise, knocking against the pins.

The little girl had also taken a fall earlier because of a similar issue. She was pretty outraged at being knocked over, and then when the parents announced that they were going to put a harness on her, she howled that she didn't want it! After all of that. Kids are fearless. My instructor clearly disapproved, but his pointers to them (as they collected themselves from their pile-up) were pretty calm. Jeff and I agree... we will let the pros teach our kids.



Just me. Believe it or not, I did not see him taking this picture!

I had a blast. I can't wait to go up again and practice. The Caughlins, who apologized for not getting our numerous messages in time this past weekend, invited us to house-sit for them in early March. So that will be our next weekend, at the latest! We are so excited. I think Jeff is even more excited than me, because now this is something we can both do.

I never thought I would ski again. But I think that it will become something that I really enjoy.

Our January Ski Weekend: Keystone

The idea was to meet up with our friend Don at Keystone on Saturday and then Jeff and I would go to Copper on Sunday so that I could take a private lesson and we could meet up with the Caughlins. Hmmm... at least the private lesson worked out.



I liked this photo because it showed one of the lifts at Keystone disappearing into the clouds. No, that is not the top of the mountain, although it is hard to tell. This is the lift right by the little hospital.

Jeff managed to do a little bit of night skiing while I went shopping. The only thing I got was breakfast for us for the following morning. Bagels, dunkie donuts and hot chocolate--the breakfast of champions, right? Right??



I cringed at the idea of posting this picture because I've got hat hair and a weirdly flat face. But the idea is really not for you to look at my mug. It's for you to view the fabulous spread that we treated ourselves to at the fondue restaurant at the top of the mountain. We had to take TWO gondolas to get there. I think they must get supplies out there by snowcat.

The dinner was amazing. We started out with a cheese fondue and all manner of dipping items: bread cubes, cruciferous vegetables, apples. The fondue was laced with white wine and was very tasty. I was worried that it would be like melted Brie but it was much, much better.

We followed with a caesar salad. You can see it in the picture with me. The fondue pot is on top of a small flame and the plate of dippers is on top of the grill. The grill was used in the third course. We got to pick our meats and cook them on top of this grill. We ate venison, sirloin, shrimp and pork. It was really nice because we could cook them for as long as we wanted to. They also gave us bread and butter, potatoes, a plate of appetizer-type things like olives, tiny pickles, garlic, etc. and a tiny skillet to make our own dipping sauce with the butter.

The last course was a chocolate fondue. We chose the dark chocolate. This time the dippers were things like pound cake, piroulines, bananas in syrup and fruits.

The whole thing was impossibly good and we were actually uncomfortably full when we left. I gained a pound and a half. But some things are so worth it.

One of the first things the server asked us was, "Do you do the chicken dance?" I really thought I had heard wrong, because the place was full of staff attired in barmaid dresses and lederhosen. But then she made it clear that the entertainment, and oom-pa polka band, would be playing the chicken dance later and that we would be expected to join in! Well, all right then.



The aforementioned oom-pa band. They were great. They mostly did traditional music but they actually had a few jazz numbers up their sleeves too.



One of the snowcats. This one was grooming the snow in front of the restaurants. He even stopped so we could get a picture.



We returned to our little condo afterward. It was just perfect. I think we will try to stay there again, if we ski Keystone two days in a row. So far I prefer Copper, so this seems unlikely.

Goodbye, Uncle Pat

Last Friday we bid goodbye to Uncle Pat. He was a good man who worked hard and did his best. Friends and family members came from near and far to bid him farewell. Uncle Pat is now free of all the trappings of mortality. May he rest in peace.

Old Movies Are Great

The Continental on I-25 shows old movies on Wednesday nights at 9 pm on the giant screen. We have talked about going before, but last night they showed something we couldn't pass up: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Even though we have seen the movie a thousand times on DVD, the theater sound really is better! We picked up some dialogue that we have never heard before.

I couldn't decide whether I was amused or disturbed by the guy who did a happy dance when Belloq's head exploded toward the end.

They are showing Top Gun next month. We just might have to go.

Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza

This past Sunday we went to the Mexican Rodeo Extravaganza at the National Western Stock Show. Every year we miss it because it's the first two days of the show. This year we got our act together and got tickets.



This was from the catwalk we walked over to get from our car onto the grounds. There were dozens of pens that we could see. Lots of cattle out there. Maybe it was the high winds, but we actually didn't smell a thing. Kind of nice!



This was a really cute segment. The rodeo clown has a three-year-old son who was introduced to stock show attendees for the first time this year. The boy was in face paint and costume to match his dad. The clown and the emcee were talking about how, for his initiation, the little guy would have to face El Diablo, a fearsome opponent, for his first rodeo appearance. El Diablo turned out to be the dachshund in the picture. I'll bet the kid can run faster than the dachshund could.



This picture is of another kid falling off of a sheep. The mutton bustin' event is really cute to watch. The participating kids are probably four to six years old. They get hockey helmets and face shields. They get put on the back of the sheep, which then takes off running. The kid has to hold on for dear life. The objective is to get the highest score, which presumably is how long you can hold on. It is great fun and the kids all got a trophy presented to them by the Mexican cowboys.



The bulls were in fine form. Here's one dumping a rider. They all get dumped eventually... or they are wise enough to climb off.



This picture is of Jerry Diaz. He's an amazing charro that has basically mastered everything and now choreographs shows and does horsemanship exhibits. Here he is with the rope. He kept that thing aloft forever. His wife Stacy was also there and participated in the show with him.



The matadors were the most anticipated event of the afternoon. The bull was trained but had never faced a matador before. There were two matadors. As the event progressed, they used different colored flags. They were both pretty artful at dodging the bull. Notice the hot pink socks...



Last but not least... the finale. They brought out all of the performers. You can see the little kids in costume on the right, and the Mexican and American flags.

I wanted to get a photo of the mariachi band, but it was way at the other end. They were really, really good!

We'll probably go back to the PRCA rodeo next year, but we will definitely attend the Mexican rodeo again in the future.

Well, this is it

We've been talking about setting up a blog to share our various experiences, and we finally did it! Expect lots of pictures and wildly varied adventures.