Ski Trip

I can't remember the last time I went skiing, but I've held on to all my gear. So I was thrilled to be invited by one of my vendors to a big lodge in Vermont for the weekend. Food, alcohol, ski equipment, lift tickets and bus travel to and from the city were included, so I couldn't say no!


There were somewhere between 25-30 people at this lodge house, only a few of whom I knew prior to the weekend, but the house was amazing. There were so many bedrooms and bathrooms, I had a room and bathroom to myself! The place had a pool and jacuzzi (which I indulged in every evening), a ping pong table, and a pool table. There was more food and drink than we could possibly go through, and dinners each night were a group affair of preparation and enjoyment.


The first night, I didn't want to overdo it and stayed fairly conservative though the party was full-on. But I was anticipating the next day of skiing and determined one quiet guy was in a like mindset. We agreed to meet the next morning and head out early as everyone had planned. Come Friday morning, we were the only two ready to go at 8:45, so we headed up before the rest. (We heard later the rest made it to the mountain around 11:45.) We skied all day together and were pretty well-matched. We started on green trails (the easiest) and then did blues (moderately difficult) for the rest of the day, meeting up with everyone at lunch and again at the end of the day. Quiet Guy was a little better than me, and I would watch him ski ahead of me (much faster than I felt comfortable going) although he would stop and wait for me periodically. Towards the end of the day, we shared a lift ride with an older guy (maybe 60) who was a regular and very chatty. After exchanging names, he commented about us, "Ah, young lovers." We both cracked up laughing and I explained we had only just met the day before. He said, "Well, sometimes that's all it takes," and I further explained that Quiet Guy is married and we were just friends. But this guy showed us some trails we hadn't previously taken and we skied with him until the end of the day. I only begged off of the last trail.

That night, there was another rip-roaring party at the house, but I was so tired, I turned in around 10:00. However, they were living it up so loudly, I eventually put in my headphones and listened to some quiet music to drown them out and get some sleep.



Saturday morning, Quiet Guy and I were up again early. Again, we were the first and only ones out the door at 8:30. When we took our first run, I could tell my legs were tired from the day before, and my right leg kept cramping up. We stopped after awhile for some Gatorade and a banana and that helped. But I still wasn't keeping up as much as I had the day before. I was hurting, and I felt bad that I was holding Quiet Guy back. I pushed myself all through the first day and half of the second to keep up -- we even did a couple black (most difficult) trails -- but I was hurting. When we met the rest of the crew at lunch, I told Quiet Guy to go out with some of the other more advanced skiers. Unfortunately, we just missed them at the rendezvous point (although we were on-time), so he went off by himself. I went out with another group, but I still was feeling pretty weak. I did a few more trails with them and headed back to the main lodge to warm up. Still, I skied for 6 hours the first day and 5 hours the second.

That night was our last night, so the party was non-stop! There was food, games, music, dancing, Olympics in the background...it was awesome. I stumbled up to my room a little after midnight, and I was still one of the first to turn in. I just couldn't party that hard after skiing so hard.

Sunday, we rode back to the city in the bus. It was a quiet bus, with most of us napping for the first half of the four-hour drive back. And thankfully, I had today off because my legs are KILLING me. I know I WAY overdid it, and today I've just rested, alternating ice and heat, stretching and loading up on protein and ibuprofen.