IT HAS ARRIVED!!!

Yes!! The ski season has arrived!! Oh JOY! As a teen I was heavily influenced by Warren Miller's movies and have yearned to live the dream life of a ski bum. I still remember when the movie Aspen Extreme came out. What could be cooler than living out of a van and skiing all day. Well, I haven't quit my job so I don't think I actually qualify as a ski bum yet. But I do have something that is nearly as good, a season pass to Eldora Mountain.

So the mountain officially opened on the Friday before Thanksgiving but it has been a little hectic to make it down there until last Tuesday. After a night of sleep reminiscent of an eight year old before before Christmas we packed a lunch and headed out. I should also mention that this would be our first day back on skis. Molly and I both switched to a snowboard about 10 years ago but we want to eventually get out into the backcountry, which is tough on a snowboard. So, after much reading and carefully watching eBay we both arrive at the mountain with a new (well, used but new to us) Telemark ski setup. Here we are getting set up in the parking lot.


We had spent the previous night watching internet movies on how to tele ski and thought we might have a chance of surviving our first run. However, upon closer inspection of the map, we discovered that the only lift that seems to be running only services blue and black runs. What? No green runs? I should note that only about 30% of the runs were open because it is so early in the season. Here is Molly contemplating the bruises she is about to recieve.


Well, there wasn't much we could do about it so we hopped on the lift and away we went. Here are some shot of us on the lift.




Wow, those pics make it look cold! The weather was actually perfect. Temps were about 18 degrees, which sound cold (and is when you are on the lift) but it make for light snow and I always get really hot when I ski, espceially when I don't know what I am doing.

Tele skiing is a little different than alpine skiing because you heel is not fixed to the ski. This requires a different technique for making turns. It is supposed to look kind of like a lunge with both knees bent and you uphill foot slid back so that you are on the ball of your foot. I would include a picture but neither of us were able to do it! It looks so easy on the internet! Oh well, we have a whole season to work on it. Here are some shots on the mountain.



Well after about 4 runs our legs were shaking and beat from all the "lunging" and crashing. At one point I shot off the edge of the run into the trees and got buried in the soft snow. I had to get out of my skis to get back to the run. Anyhow, it was a great day. Here is a shot of me on my fist day as a part-time ski bum. Note the joy in the eyes and snow in the beard. Good times!