The Haul North
At around 2pm Friday, Rob, Heather, Stan, Andy and I piled into Rob's Volvo SUV, and headed off to Tahoe. We were to meet 15 other people - mostly work friends - spread across 2 cabins. Basecamp, where the majority of us were, was located a mere 2 mins walk from the lifts of Heavenly. A smaller group - the non-native English speakers - stayed at Nikita's condo in Tahoe Keys.
I was excited. Even a week ago, we were saying how it might not even snow this weekend, since it'd been clear and cloudless for weeks. Then, on Wednesday, the deluge came. Rain in SF, snow in Tahoe. It looked like there would be more than just ice on the ground for my first time skiing.
Friday was grueling. Although there was plenty of fun to be had in the car on the way up, it took us a full 8 hours to actually get up to Basecamp. Of course, this being me, Rob and Heather, there was shopping and sit-down dinner on the way up. And it did take Stan, Rob and Andy a while to get the chains on to the car (for the full 10 mins that we needed them - !!!). Nevertheless, it was a bit sad that Don and Elliott left at 6, and got there within 30 mins of us.
"It takes me less time to fly to New York," I complained to Deepali and William as we finally settled in. And then promptly passed out in front of the wood oven stove.
The boys try to figure out chains
The retarded car in front of us
Mmmmmm... butter
The Bunny Slopes
We got a bit of a late start on Sat am, which annoyed Tahoe junkies Scott and Don to no end. This was mostly due to disorganization - no one thought about where we would actually go - Kirkwood or Heavenly - on Saturday. Nonetheless, by about noon, Dustin, Scott, Heather and I made it to Kirkwood. Philippe et al theoretically were there as well, but it was really hard to meet up with them in the zoo. The rest of the group checked out Heavenly, since it was so dern close to Basecamp.
As many people know, I was really apprehensive about skiing. I'm not a sporty person, nor one for extreme speeds, so I didn't know how much I'd like it or if I could even do it. But about 10 mins into the lesson, I was itching to get moving. Yes, it was nice to practice making the wedge. And I'm really glad I finally learned how to stop properly - something I never mastered the one and only other time I went when I was 11.
After about 30 mins of sliding into each other, the first half of the class hit the Bunny Slope. Literally named the "Bunny" Slope. That in and of itself was enough to earn me Kirkwood's loyalty for the rest of my life. So I took a ski lift for the first time, with my eyes completely closed and holding on to my instructor for dear life, and then slowly crawled down the hill.
Me and Heather on Bunny
I managed 1 run with the class before I ran for cover. It was wet, wet snow, and by 4, my down jacket was soaked through! Bleh! Not only that, I realized that my gloves were not waterproof. But I figured that staying indoors wasn't going to dry me up - in fact, I was melting more - so I met up with Heather and headed back out to Bunny. So far, skiing = good.
That night, we decided to cook up a pot of Japanese chicken curry and brown rice for dinner, and then the festivities began. There was beer. There was Jenga. And there was Nikita, looking, er, celebratory, in his lounging outfit.
Don bends the Jenga rules
NIKITA!
Beer Jenga?
And then the trouble begins...
Sunday am, we headed off to Kirkwood bright and early. The whole group was going this time, and Don and Scott made sure we were all up and ready to go by 9:30. Unfortunately, so was everyone else in South Lake, as we were stuck in traffic trying to get into the parking lot for a good hour. So ironically, we ended up arriving around noon again.
But things moved much quicker this time. I took the shuttle over to the Bunny Slope, got my gear, and headed up. I finally conquered my paralyzing fear of the chair lifts, so I went up the same slope as the day before about 5 times before trying some of the other Bunny-related runs. Within an hour, I felt comfortable enough to ski on non-familiar terrain, to stop without crashing into people, and to actually enjoy going fast, so I headed over to the main Village, where the big people were playing.
I had a really good time skiing down Snowkirk, another green circle (but more difficult) slope - enough that it made me bold. High on adrenaline, itching to get a final run in before leaving for the weekend, I hopped on to The Reut, which is basically a double black diamond mountain with a blue trail down.
At about 4:45 pm, I started frantically calling everyone I could.
"Where are you?" asked Rob.
"Stuck on top of a mountain!" I screamed.
Yes, people - I got stuck. The ski that I had on wasn't calibrated properly, and it came off as I trudged over to the blue run. By the time some guy helped me get it back on, everyone that had come up with me (we were some of the last people on) were way gone. I tried skiing, but the powder was so soft that I couldn't turn. I totally wiped out - to the point that even when I had fallen, my skis would keep going. I was dragged down the mountain in probably every unattractive position available.
So I gave up. I sat on my skis, dug my elbows in to the snow, and started sliding my way down on my ass. I already had snow in my underwear, snow down my pants, snow up my shirt, and snow in my bra at this point. What did I have to lose?
Luckily, the patrol came by the time I crawled halfway down the mountain, and rescued me in a snowmobile. "We're here for people like you," my friendly hero said. "We make sure that no one gets stuck here overnight."
I almost made it through the weekend without some snow-related disaster. All I can say is, thank god for snowmobiles, snow patrol, and lots of Bailey's.
Drying my underwear in front of the fireplace
But I love skiing. I haven't been this excited about anything since I started dancing. So, as soon as my black and blueness heals, I'll be headed up to Tahoe. Anyone game?
Full set of pictures here.
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