Hitting the slopes

A week ago our family trip to Colorado found us driving the winding road up the Grand Mesa to Powderhorn--the local ski resort about 45 minutes outside Grand Junction.

I learned to ski at Powderhorn when I was in 7th grade--I remember I took a bunch of ski lessons with my BFF Megan. Our parents would take turns driving us up on Saturdays--we'd have lessons in the morning and then in the afternoon we could free-ski (not that we skied for "free," just that we were allowed to ski on our own). Those were good times and looking back I have no idea how I talked my parents into the luxury of allowing me to participate in a several-session-ski-lesson adventure...

Anyways, when we arrived on the slopes a week ago, getting back on the skis was like riding a bike...given that I haven't been skiing in more than a decade. But I was in good company with my brother and his wife who also hadn't skied in a very long time. And my 4-yr-old nephew had never been skiing (much less spent much time in snow!).

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day--clear blue skies and no wind. I'm sure it was deja vu for my parents who hung out in the lodge with my 2-yr-old niece (they don't ski and would often hang out in the lodge when they took us skiing years ago).

I had always been under the impression that Powderhorn was more of a "regional ski resort"--it's small, doesn't get a ton of snow, and is a bit off the beaten path (though it's the closest ski resort to the Colorado town I lived in). But riding up the lifts I met folks from Delaware and Pennsylvania (the woman from DE had just spent big bucks to ski Telluride for two days and the gentleman from PA was trying to figure out where he would ski the next day--"either Vail or Telluride"). And, when I was in line to rent my skis, I got to talking with the woman behind me, who had driven up with her family from Yuma. And my sister-in-law mentioned she had ridden the lift with someone who was visiting from Gilbert! Apparently Powderhorn is more a destination place than I realized (though I suppose it was the holidays)--yea for supporting the local economy!

Powderhorn is the only place I've ever skied and it was as great as I remembered it. I think my nephew had a good time too--by the end of the day he had done a run on the bunny slopes without any falls!

I can't wait to hit the slopes again--hopefully it won't be another 13 years before I get back out there!