My Afternoon Ski Partner(s)

So there had been a request about what I did with the rest of my afternoons when I skied. . . . . . well for a few days I got to ski with some of my friends Carol and her husband Ray from Dallas. They happened to be in town for a few days for their own vacation and didn't know there was a ski week going on. It was totally a pleasant surprise when I ran into them after lunch at the St. B! Carol and Ray are friends that I spend labor day weekend every year at the beach house I share with houston friends.

I was so proud of myself, Ray really wanted to learn to do a few moguls so I was lucky and got to play ski instructor and show him what I had been learning. I love playing ski instructor, its the job I really wish I could do in real life. . . . . Oooohhh the life of a ski bum. . . . . . . . I taught him the 'pressing the buttons' technique on carving and how to use it then on a bump. He seemed to get it, I was so pumped! I love sharing skiing with people :)

The rest of the time I actually skied with Gareth. On the first day we skied together we went back to the scene of the crime. We hiked the trail up to the basin and stared down the run Zdarsky. We skied down part and talked things over like, 'here is where I started falling' or 'here is where I found your first ski' or 'wow, you fell really far down the hill'. It was kinda weird, very calm, and probably a good closure for Gareth. He said it, 'Got the monkey off his back' by going back. Which I was glad to be there for him for that.

After that we pretty much skied where ever we felt like all over the mountain. We hiked the basin a few more times over the week, we did the ridge once. We had been hoping to climb Kachina Peak again, but they closed the trail really soon after lunch and we missed the chance. But we did the bumps and the trees and I was pretty happy with our skiing. We had a really fun time together agian! It was so nice.

So are we together? Hmmmm, maybe ;)

A shirt called FUN

My favorite gift I received over Christmas was from my little sister Katriina. It was a simple yellow shirt that she had taken a sharpie to and written in very large letters the word FUN. She said it was to remind me to not take things seriously and to always leave room for fun (since there isn't a lot of my style of fun in houston). I wasn't sure where I was ever going to wear this shirt, but something told me to bring it to Taos with me. . . . . . .

Thursday was a special Apres Ski event that took place after dinner. I had been looking forward to it since the begining of the trip, it was Karaoke night!!!! You all know how I love a good karaoke night. I figured since a lot of the people staying at the St. Bernard were old, they wouldn't be too terribly interested in singing so I would just have to convince them to come and listen to me sing a bit. (nothing like a captive audience, right?)

To help get everyone motivated to come and hang out, I decided to bust out the FUN shirt. Everyone at the table thought it was a riot and agreed to come listen to me sing one song. Even Maria, the 91 year old said she was coming! I was pumped.

Well right after dinner, I went and got the song book so I could start planning my song(s) for the evening and so I wouldn't be hogging the book all night. Well all of a sudden people started pouring into the bar of the St. B. Lifties, the ski boot guys, the ski patrol, locals of all sorts and soon the place was packed. I made sure I got on the list early and I'm glad I did since that would be the only time I sang.

The DJ/karaoke guy started it off with a song and then I was on. It took a while for the music to start and I pointed out the FUN shirt to the crowd. I got a "That shirt is awesome!" from the crowd. Finally they got the music and screen synced up and I sang that song "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia, it came off pretty well, I was pleased. I went back to my table and got a few more shirt compliments on the way. I did notice one weird thing, when the DJ sang a few people got up and started dancing, the same thing happened when I sang, a few more people got up to dance. The song between me and the next singer was not a regular karaoke-style song, it had a techno dance beat and then everyone got up and a full out dance party was on!

It was so awesome! I love me a good dance party! When the song 'Almost over Now' by N.E.R.D came on I put the shades down and played the rockstar and rocked it out with the nearest ski hottie. After that I couldn't leave the dance floor. Every song was a good one. They even had a slow song that someone sang and I found myself a smooth moving frenchmen who asked if I skied as well as when I danced. I was like, 'Of course!' I even danced with the kid who had been helping pick out the skis. Then I went back to my table and found Tina and Maria and their nephew who worked on the hill, and got them to come out on the main dance floor. Maria was hilarious, she was trying to be a god wing-woman and get out of the way whenever a guy would try to dance with me.

Then at 11pm, the party was over and everyone had to go home. There was a full day of skiing to be had tomorrow and you can't party too late and expect to make it through the next day. I slept really good that night!

Apres Skiing

Every night, when the lifts close down and everyone heads in for that wonderful time where relaxation takes precedence over all other things, its the time called apres (accent on the E) skiing.

At a resort you have many options on things to do when you are done being active for the day. Most bars have their various happy hours where you go straight in your boots and have a beer or two before going to change. Other popular options are hot tubing, showering, sitting by the fire, etc. The hotel St. Bernard also all those options and more, my favorite immediately after skiing was sitting by the fire, with a drink, blogging/facebooking with my laptop.

One of the special things they had on Tuesda night was the screening of the indie movie, Oil and Water. In summary, it was about these two guys who set forth on an adventure in a diesel van that the refit to run on various forms of vegetable oils. They go from the northern tip of Alaska to the southern tip of Chile. The entire way educating adults and school kids about renewable sustainable energy forms, all the while rocking it out on random kayak adventures. It was a great movie, everything I love in an indie film; action, adventure, random crazy-ness and an environmental message. Good times!

New Friends

The best part of the trip is all the fun interesting people I have met. You meet people non-stop throughout the day -at the bar, on the chairlift, in line, in class, and when dining.

Every meal I get to sit at a table with new people who are also staying at the St. Bernard and participating in the ski camp as well. These people became like my family for the week. At breakfast we would talk about our goals for the day, at lunch we talk about how awesome our lessons were and what we were going to kick-down on the hill after eating. Then at dinner we would talk of world events, what people did in 'real life' (the St. B is your fantasy ski land).

I met Tina a yoga and writer, her husband Andy-the writer behind the "Dummies" self-help series, and her 91 year old mother Maria who was a hoot. I also met Artie, an 18+ year policemen from New York (complete with accent) who was also a first year visitor. We bonded over our love of skiing at Crested Butte and the pizza joint, The Secret Stash and eating elk at the Wooden Nickle. I also met Jim Walker a houston publishing tycoon who had many interesting tales to tell of life in the city. Another Jim I met was from Seattle and he was a retired electromagnetics engineer but liked to do photography. I also met another retired couple named Peter Frank and his wife who are New Mexico locals, just the sweetest people. I also met another retired engineer/mathmeticial Isabelle and her husband who were from Washington DC.

One of the most interesting people I met was a woman who was an ex-flight attendent turned fashionista named Toni. She came for 2 weeks every year and always stayed at the St. B. She had been coming for 18 years! Everyone on the hill seemed to know of Toni (although not always in the best way). On night at dinner she was telling me about a vintage ski jacket she had just got that was made by a famous woman skier in the 1940-50s. We went back to her A-frame and theentire room was filled with clothes, I felt like I had walked into an upscale California ski boutique. Toni had clothes and ski accessories everywhere! She had at least 15 different jackets, one for each day she was there. There was also matching pants, gloves, hats, gators, goggles for each one all laid out. She also had $300 long underwear, it was crazy! Then there were all her different outfits for breakfast and dinner. I have never seen anything like it in my life. I asked her how she got it all out there. Apparently she had 4 large bags/trunks they let her on the plane with. She was the true fashionista if ever I met one. (And I thought I liked shoes, but it was nothing compared to her love of clothes!) The thing about Toni, however is that fashion seemed to be her one positive median for attention. Her other median for attention was her ailments which were always wrecking havoc on her. Many people seem to humor her or just deal with her, I found her fun in small doses. She seems like she needed some friends.

The hotel/mountain staff was full of cool people as well. I met a tall blonde skier named Lief who was originally from houston. His family is 100% norwigen and he used to go to the Norweigen Seaman's church in Pasadena, the same place I go every year for their Scandinavian Christmas Bizzare. I also got to meet a number of Jean Mayer's children who worked there. (Jean Mayer I was told by the ski week regulars, was once quite the playboy and there have been numerous "Mrs" Mayers and several heirs to the St. Bernard) I also got to know the kids in the Taos ski and boot store where I was demoing all my skis from.

Then there are the people you meet in class. I became pretty good friends with Dev, she and I had a fun afternoon of skiing together on Friday. She was practicing her giant slalom moves for a race she had in a week, so we did high speed mountain cruisers together and practiced really leaning over on our turns.

I did have one accidental meeting, Bruce. He was a guy I thought was the original Bruce (the kiwi I met the first night) that I told to hold a seat while I changed out of my boots. I got back to the bar and saw Jim Walker about to sit my seat next to Bruce so I thought I would introduce the two. It went something like this, "Jim, this is Bruce, he is one of the original Kiwi bugie jumpers", then Bruce goes, "Actually, My name is Bruce, but I'm not from New Zealand. . . . ." Yup, I had just introduced Jim to a completely random person who looked like Bruce and actually had the same name. This Bruce I had never met and just yelled at him to hold me a bar seat. He said his friends and him had said hi to me from the chairlift when I was going out earlier in the afternoon, so technically we weren't perfect strangers. I didn't remember this too much since I kinda get calls from the chairlift all the time, but vaguely. I guess we were meant to meet at some point! Anyway, the three of us had a fun conversation without missing a beat after that about our world travels till it was time for dinner. I love how random things end up so well!

Overall I had such a great time meeting such cool people everywhere I went. Being this social reminds me of college!

My skis are Old

My skis are old.

My skis are old. I say this again as proof that I am no longer in denial about this topic. I was at first when I got to Taos, and protested to many people who questioned my choice of equipment, because I love my skis. They are K2s, are blue, and have flowers, and were rated one of the top women's all mountain skis when I bought them 5 years ago (which makes the skis 6 years old since they were post season when I bought them). I love them. They were(are!) awesome. But they are holding me back and I've accepted that I have to let them go.

I am now in the market for new skis and probably new boots. The boots have been giving me problems since last ski season, so I was aware of their soon-to-be downfall. On the advice of ski week veterans, I was pointed to the Taos Ski and Boot Doctors. Yes, apparently ski equipment is so complicated you need a PhD to sell it.

They hooked me up with new skis to demo everyday. I immediately fell in love with another pair of K2s called Lotta Love in 149. I have been demo-ed them on Monday. They were amazing on the bumps!

On Tuesday I tried the Volkls since I had loved their powder skis last season. They had the ladies Attiva series. In the morning I tried Luna in a 149. I was not as impressed with these skis. They didn't respond very well and overall were just too soft. I took them in at lunch and switched them back to the K2s for the rest of the day.

The next day I tried the Nordica Olympia Victory skis in 146 since most of my first group had been skiing those. I ran into Miles in the store when I was picking them out on Thursday morning and he was so happy I was trying them. I really liked them. They were so great in the bumps, however they felt a little short and I felt weren't as stable when carving.

On Thursday I went with the more aggressive Volkls, the Tierra in the 156. They were wonderful! Much better than the Lunas. They however felt a bit long on the bumps, 156 is a bit too tall. I knew they came in a 149 so I figured I could always go to that size later.

On Friday I wanted to remember what is was about the K2s that I liked so much. We worked on high speed carving that afternoon and the Lotta Loves were totally up to the task. They handled beautifully! Strong, nice curve, and no chatter! It made me even more impressed with them. I had a feeling I was not going to be able to let those babies go. Plus Saterday I didn't want to go back to my old skis. . . . . .

So Friday night I took the leap and bought them. They are my new loves! I just hope the old skis don't start lurking around the house saying "Baby come back" like those brooms and mops do on those commercials.

Skiing Week: The Ultimate Ski Camp

The idea of ski week is that you take an entire week off of work, you leave all your troubles and worries behind at home and focus on one thing: getting really good at skiing. You eat, live, breath, sleep skiing. Every morning you meet at 10:45am with the same instructor and same fellow students and pick up where you left off the day before, always building more. Being a guest at the St. Bernard, ski weeks is all they do. There is no staying 1 night at the St.B. It is ski week every week for them.

For the first day of skiing, after our enormous breakfast, we met at the top of chair 5 for a ski off. All the students are at the top and all the instructors are at the bottom of the small hill before you make it to the main run. The hill is separated into two groups, aggressive and laid back, depending on you skiing preference. Then one by one people ski down and like an airport traffic director they wave you off into groups based on your turns. There are 11 levels. 1-10 and Jean's group. 1 is never been on the skis and 10 is superstars. Jean's group would be the special VIP guests/friends/ski legends - they have the privilege of skiing with the master himself.

I got put in an 8, I asked the others in the group if they wanted to hike (the mountain back-country), they said no and that I needed to be put in a 9 to do that. So then I was put with my first instructor, Miles.

Miles was awesome. He is a tall german looking guy with bright blue eyes. He is had a very straight forward way about explaining things. Being an engineer, that confused me. (We engineers like to make things as sufficiently complicated as possible) So I then had to ask philosophical ski questions to clarify. I think I then confused Miles.

We did a few intermediate blue runs and talked about edging and then did some mogul runs. Miles kept trying to tell me something about my turns for the bumps, but I was confused since I thought I was already doing what he was asking. He then did a demonstration, where it was very clear, I was not using my inside ski to turn. He (and some the others in the class and at the St. B) also said my skis were old. And that I was hopping the old school way on my bumps because of that. (Which is how back in the day I was taught to do) No more, the super sidecut skis do all the work for you. No hopping required. This concept blew my mind. I also decided the next I definitely.

The next day, there was a second ski off for new people who came to ski week a day late. We picked up a few more people and the group became too large and we had to split. I was moved to another group with another instructor named Teri Koss. She too is awesome! However I think this class may have been an aggressive 8 or a mellow 9 (which is a step down, but these people wanted to hike, so I was cool with that) I was there to learn and I wasn't about to let pride make me feel I was too good to be with anyone. So it was alright.

All the ski instructors are there to help you work on whatever your goals are. After skiing with Miles, I saw I had a lot of work to do on learning the new way to ski bumps. Athletically I can kicker-down and master any bump run with my hippity-hop jumping, which is exhausting, but after seeing Miles and Teri move their skis over the mounds of snow like a person spreading butter, I too wanted that smoothness. I want to ski like Buttah.

So that is what I have been working on the last few days. We have been doing a few warm-up runs then hitting the bumps! I feel like have been getting so much out of the class. It also helps that I have been using better skis. (more on that topic later). (me, instructor Terri, and classmate Dev)

On the smaller bumps, I have developed a wonderful smoothness, on the big ones, there is still work to be done. The class too has been getting better. Everyone can see major developments in everyone else's skiing. Everyone is very encouraging as well. As you go down a run people shout things like, "Great form", "Nice upper body", "So smooth!" There is a real feeling of ski fellowship and positiveness that makes the group work so well together. We even dork out together by taking group shots at the top of the hike we did together. (We've progressed to the back-country, oh yeah!)

4 words sum it up: Ski week is awesome!

The Food (Days 1 & 2)

Good News! The food here is freakin' fantastic!

Bad News! I may weigh more when I get back then when I left.

Seriously, the food here is a culinary experience all in itself. Head chef Yan, prepares a 3 course breakfast (among other options), a 3 course lunch, and a 5 course dinner. Each one served to you by your host Jean himself. You are seated at a 6 to 10 person tables with various guests and the food is served family style. This is apparently a very french tradition. Jean bring each course to every table and explains in his melt-your-heart-like-buttah french accent, in detail every aspect of what you are about the eat including where it was from, what style it was prepared, and any other tidbit that makes it fabulous.

Saterday night's dinner (served promptly at 6:30pm) went something like this. . . . . .

(me and Jean Mayer)

Course 1: French onion soup with toasted baguette and cheese

Course 2: Shrimp and quinoa

Course 3 & 4: Organic grass fed beef filet with sauteed spinach and sweet potato gratin

Course 5: Mountain berry tart with vanilla custard and chantilly cream

House Wine included.

Breakfast is really a smorgasbord of things to eat. There was a special oatmeal, yogurts, cereal, toast, exotic teas, coffee, cereals, breads, fruit, any thing you could want if you were going 'light'. Then the hot breakfast was served promptly at 8am. We had eggs benedict, blueberry pancakes, and camembert cheese on baguette.

Lunch takes a full hour and is served at 12:30, right after your morning lesson ends.

Course 1: French lentil and lime soup

Course 2: Quiche and spinach salad

Course 3: Locally made chocolate ice cream with black berries

Seriously I was stuffed, I had to take half an hour to recover before I hit the slopes again!

Dinner on sunday was once again insanely good.

Course 1: Curry soup and baguette

Course 2 : Spanish beef tapa served with Port

Course 3 & 4: Caribbean lobster, baby asparagus, and michigan rice

Course 5: Locally made chocolate truffle with raspberries and crystallized ginger

Everything is how the french would put, 'C'est tres bien et magnific!'

The Hotel Saint Bernard - Sunday (Day 1)

The Saint Bernard is this tiny family run hotel that is at the very base of the mountain. It has a wonderful old world rustic charm of dark wood, cosy bar, crackling round fireplace, and a deck that worships the sun every afternoon. The hotel could easily be mistaken for somewhere in the French Alps. The charming owner and head of the ski school is frenchmen Jean Mayer. He is a legend in these parts and is partially responsible for the development of the entire ski area and is considered a pioneer in the ski development world. Everything has a romantic french feel, from the architecture, the warmth of the people, to the fabulous french cuisine, and even the website lures you in with an accordion accompanied frenchmen singing about love.

http://www.stbernardtaos.com/intro.php

I was lucky enough to get an A-frame cottage complete with loft all to myself.My bags were taken directly to my room as I was led to meet with Christine, a fabulous british women who is the concierge of the hotel and welcomes each guest and explains (in her smooth british accent) how awesome your stay with them will be. She is just so very nice, you want to get her a hug before you go.

After my meeting with Christine, I raced to my room in an effort to squeeze in the last few precious runs before the lifts closed for the day. I rode up with a ski patrol guy (always a wealth of information on conditions and hot spots on the mountain) and learned of a newly created tree run that was added since last year. I was stoked with this info, however decided that it was probably best that I take my first few runs on the easy side. I got two glorious runs in and learned an important fact that my fluffy snowboard socks are not good for skiing; made my boots too tight. Saved me from a lot of pain the next day!

One of the great things about the Hotel St. Bernard is the bar. Immediately after the hill closes, the bar fill up with people. All rosy cheeked and relaxing, looking tired but satisfied, and reminiscing over the day's hard worked efforts to complete the quest of skiing the perfect line. I set up my week-long hotel tab and started with a margarita and just sat back and people watched. After a while Sandy came to the bar and chatted with me and we engaged a third person, an old Kiwi named Bruce. Now Bruce was quite the character, he was in town visiting his sister, but normally resides in India, where he works as a paragliding instructor near Kashmir. Additionally, this guy was one of the originals who developed bungie jumping in New Zealand. Crazy cool! I just love meeting random adventure legends!

Sunday (Day 1)

So I got up this morning and had a very calm feeling about the day. I was all packed from the night before and only had to eat and put my face on -besides getting the last few odds and ends together. I finally got the courage to step on the scale to see how much weight I had put on during the holidays so I had a data point for when I come back from my trip. (124.8 lbs, very bad –although 2 lbs of that I’ve decided may be from the enormously delicious meatball sandwich I ate the night before with the justification that I would work it off over the next week) Mmmmmm, meatball sandwich. I love Frenchie’s.

Gareth left about half an hour before I did, as I enjoyed my grapefruit and yogurt for breakfast. He kissed my forehead and told me to have a good week. I told him I would. After he left I moved the luggage out of my room and continued with my breakfast.

Shannon was awesome and came to pick me up. She even patiently waited and occupied the dog while I decided to bring my CDs or not. (I seriously need to move them all onto my computer sometime). A few minutes later we were on our way!

I was actually called out by a friend from work who I stopped and chatted with on the way to my gate. As he wished me well on my trip, I noticed Gareth was sitting right there all astonished. Originally I had a great one-liner all ready for when he asked what I was doing there, but I forgot it and was just like, ‘hey, I’m going on my own vacation, blah, blah, blah, blah’. And then sat down in the row of seats adjacent to his. No real drama, so that was a relief. But boy was he surprised!

When I got to Albuquerque, my ride was waiting for me. In fact they were paging me on the loud speakers. I check in and got my bags. Gareth asked if I wanted to ride with him, I was like 'No, I've already booked one with the shuttle bus.' Then I asked when his family was getting there. He said he was trying to figure that out. I told him I would see him tomorrow at lessons and then went with my driver.

The ride between Albuquerque and Taos is one of my favorite because it is so incredibly beautiful. You have the mountains back in the distance, the hills and the Cibola National Forest are immediately outside the city. The freeway to Santa Fe rolls along creeping ever closer to the Taos mountains in the Sangre de Cristo range. To the west of Santa Fe you see the cliffs on the red rock plateau of Black Mesa. After the town of Espanola, the road starts to curve along the contours of the mountain, winding along side the seafoam green and gray river that is the Rio Grande in its infancy. The hills on the east side are still frosted with snow from the dump they got last week (16 inches!) while the west side is dry from the warm afternoon sun.


This continues until you reach the town of Taos from which you enter the mountains themselves. The road twists and turns, along a tributary to the Rio Grande that brings the snow melt from the mountains to the river. The snow increases and you really start to feel like you are going the a secret alpine village hidden among the tall pine timbers that populate the steeps around you. At the end of the road a tiny town emerges from the trees and you go down into the small valley. Looking up you see the enormous mountain that is the main ski area staring straight down at you like a sentinel guarding the city. At the base of the ski town all the mountains are surrounding you, watching, aging, breathing nature.

I love having a driver. In real life I would never drive (unless it was for fun in some sports car), otherwise a driver is the way to go. You get to focus on other things like the scenery or read your magazine or socialize safely. In the shuttle I met my first new friend Sandy. He is an older fellow who is tall and thin and around 60ish? He is originally from Chicago, but now makes his home in Florida. Sandy is an old school gentlemen -very nice manners, courteous, sociable, interesting to talk to, etc. He too is going to ski week at the Saint Bernard. I can tell his is a kindred spirit. (Can I use that phrase? Or is that too literary)

(more later, I have to go ski now)

Prelude

Once upon a time there was a lovely lonely girl, who needed somewhere to stay. She moved in with a boy who was a friend and a year later they fell in love. 

The couple had a magical weekend where they celebrated the girl’s birthday in the mountains of New Mexico. They laughed and sang and skied the backcountry together, away from the crowds, relishing in the warmth of the springtime sun. They made plans to keep sharing their joint passion for the snow and trees for the next year.

However, the boy seriously injured himself and over time became cold and angry, and no matter what the girl did she couldn’t help bring him out of his dark thunderous mood. Soon the two fell out of sorts with each other. 

Subsequently, the girl was left out of all the plans they had made to ski the same mountains and was left to fend for herself. She tried to persuade him to allow her back into the trip, and then she tried to find another group to come see her beloved snow and trees, but all efforts failed. 

So she did what any self-respecting, como-reading, martini drinking, adventure-loving, independent girl would do in this situation. She booked herself at the all-inclusive spa and resort and called it a day.