Skiing the Rockies

Andrea & Ben enjoy a day on the slopes

On December 26, 2008 we skied the Rockies. My brothers Kenny & Wesley went to Winter Park ski resort with Ben and me for the day. Mom and Dad also drove up and spent the day in the lodge with the DVD player. We had a fabulous day for skiing. Winter Park had 10 inches of new snow, and we skied in 4 inches of fresh powder for most of the day. It wasn't too cold or windy until late in the afternoon. Kenny, Wesley, and I ski on short skis called Snowblades. Ben opted for regular skis.

Despite accidentally taking a black-diamond, mogul-laden run, a head-on collision with my husband (we cracked two pairs of goggles), and a silly kid who messed around on the ski lift (which pushed me off the chair as we loaded) -- we had a fabulous day. This was my first ski trip in two years, and Ben's first time on a "real mountain." We tease him about that all the time. Although he has been skiing since he was young, we often refer to the Berkshires where Ben has skied as "bunny hills."


The end of the day did finish very cold. The thermometer at mid-mountain read 0 degrees, and with the wind chill it was 15 degrees below. We took one lift to the very top of Mary Jane mountain - about 12,900 feet. It is above timberline and very windy. The ski lift headed right into the bitter cold wind. Once we hit the top and turned to face downhill the wind was at out backs and the sun peeked in to make it much more pleasant. The view was gorgeous.

Here are a few more pics.

Andrea & Ben at the top of Mary Jane

*Censored* as Wesley would say

Beautiful Rocky Mountains covered in snow

A video Kenny took of us skiing