Zzzish!
Posted on April 10, 2008 - Filed Under Personal |
It’s official: I have snow in my veins.
Sitting on the lift, passing the sign “11,029 ft”, only two ways existed for me to descend Copper Mountain return to civilization. One was on a pair of skis. The other: helicopter.
Helicopter was not an option.
If the view from atop the Rocky Mountains has never graced your eyes then you are truly missing out. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains on all sides is enough to make anyone appreciate the power and beauty of nature. Every view from atop Copper Mountain was like someone gave Thomas Kinkaid 40 gallons of coffee and told him to go nuts.
Day 1: Yes, it is possible that your leg can turn into jello. Mine certainly did. The first run of the day took nearly 1 hour for me to descend the mountain. Not because of giant wipe-outs (yard sale). It was about control. To learn this control my body went through more twists and turns than a taffy machine.
Did I fall? You betcha. My last run produced a 8.5 fall, resulting in the heel of my foot touching the back of my head. Altitude sickness, dehydration, hypothermia, leprosy had driven my mortal coil to the brink.
Clifford: Dude, I’m finished. My legs are jello, my stomach is chewing on my spine, and my pinky toe hurts. Leave me. Save yourself.
Chris: Dude, knock it off. You have 20 more feet to go before you’re at the lodge. Barbeque duck and Guinness are waiting.
Clifford: My legs work! It’s a miracle!
Day 2: Hopped up on muscle relaxers, aspirin, and oatmeal the ski slopes at Keystone were tackled. Keystone has the world’s longest beginner run. When the first run was started, I honestly believed spring would arrive before I finished.
Chris brought in reinforcements: his wife Adelita. Chris taught me to control my descent. Adelita taught me to stand up. She explained that skiing in the fetal position was the cause of all my leg and back problems. I thought it was lack of Guinness. Oh well, you learn something new every day.
By the end of day 2, I actually resembled a skier and not an epileptic monkey. And it’s always at the end of an adventure when you start really getting good. For me, the saddest point of the weekend was when we agreed on the lift that the next run would be the last run. The syndrome was the little kid, crying “But I don’t wanna go home!”
Day 3: Chris introduced me to the Wii. I had no idea hitting bunnies with ball bats, spitting in people’s coffee, and burping in Paris could be so much fun! Toss in some home-cooking and a few more bottles of Guinness and the day gets labeled as a chill day.
Little doubt exists that even a small vacation can be a vacation nonetheless. Sure, spending a month perfecting my skiing techniques would have been preferable. But you know what they say about guests and fish: they go bad after three days.
I wouldn’t push my luck.
But to Chris and Adelita: thank you for opening your home to a professional non-skier. Your offer for a return trip has already been accepted and I look forward to hanging out with you guys again. Unlimited Power!
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5 Responses to “Zzzish!”
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Love the new picture setup. It worked great in both IE and Firefox.
I have to ask… Why are Chris and Adelita wearing helmets while you have nothing but a piece of cloth to protect your skull?
(Cliff * high speed) + (Tree * rooted to mountain)= Squishy headed, body mangled Cliff…
It sounds like you had a great time! Guiness is a great antifreeze for the blood.
Matt’s last blog post..Conspiracy Theory? Or Reality? (North American Union)
Chris and Adelita are cool, young, hip urbanites. I am Cliff. I had no idea wearing helmets was cool. Actually I’m surprised my ski clothes stayed in storage for 5 years since last used.
If you saw the video, which I can’t get to post right, you would see that going fast down the hill is not a concern.
Guinness is my new best friend.
Excellent post. If all else fails and you can’t hear me yelling,”Stand up, Cliff, Stand up!” the wave of my poles sends the same message.
Adelita’s last blog post..Volvo meet Fire Truck
The Pictures look great. What plugin are you using? I would like to add this to my blog.
Adelita, I’ll be dying to know how the last weekend of skiing was. For sure!
Tim, thanks! The name of the plugin is WP FancyZoom which can be found here: http://granades.com/wp-fancyzoom-wordpress-plugin/
I’m hoping sometime soon, I can get my hands on another digital camera . . .