Skiing Vail

No words or pictures in this post will really do this experience justice, but I will try.

Let's remember, or maybe I'll just be honest now, that before this weekend I didn't really like skiing. I was more "when in Rome" - ing and hoping it'd grow on me. I was always cold, always felt less in control than I really wanted to feel flying down the icy mountain, and was tired after about 3 runs. Oh and I'm afraid of heights - without skis on. 

But I feel like this weekend in Vail was the true Colorado skiing experience and totally got me hooked. 

Vail is so beautiful, especially in December. 

They heat their streets so there is never snow on them! (What?!)

I went up with my friend, Peter, who has a ski share house. Many people do this concept where they all chip in to rent a house for the winter. It's about 15 people in a 4 person condo but not everyone is there every weekend. It was fun to meet a bunch of new people and stay in a ski condo.

Seeing as though it was forecasted to be -10 degrees, I THOUGHT I was going to spend the majority of the day in here...

But instead THIS WAS ME...all day long. 

Giant smile....but you can't see.

(Special thanks to Laura for lending me her skis while she lives in balmy China,
and Steph/Jas for the birthday gift of ski accessories)

It didn't turn out to be -10, it was actually +10..whoop whoop!!

I wore: 2 pairs of black yoga pants, ski pants, 1 base layer Under Armor shirt, 3 long sleeve running shirts, 1 wool fleece, 1 coat, and a face mask. The face mask was a rookie last minute purchase on the way up - definitely a non-negotiable for this day. 

But...I was ACTUALLY WARM. 

No one else was there because apparently a -10 forecast is cold or something. So I didn't have to worry about any speed racers running in to me as I navigated myself safely down the mountain. 

I've only ever skied in ice and it was completely soft powder. I was able to have much more control and didn't have to squat as much, resulting in less tired quads. (I still fell once, but I'm getting so much better! Actually I fell because powder is so much different than ice and I had to get used to not getting caught when I turn.) It was lightly snowing the whole time. The trees had snow on them. Just an amazingly beautiful, zen-ful experience. 

We skied all day, about 9am-4pm. And then headed to the village to watch some football. 

Peter said he had to take a picture of what I thought of the day...