Stories from the Road

Stories from the Road
January 15, 2017
Snowmass Village, CO.

Riding up the Alpine Springs lift today we chatted with a young couple from Orange County. This was their first day at Snowmass, and they were having a great time. The woman’s father was a pro skier, who grew up in Aspen and now lived in Hawaii. Her mother was also a fine athlete. Both people talked of wanting to spend a couple of years here, and that seemed possible, since they could work remotely. I encouraged them to go for it!

Cess took a ski lesson today and did well, having not skied for 45 years. Her instructor with whom we had lunch was a character. Dennis, who had the gift of the blarney, lived half the year in Chile, where he taught skiing at Portillo and the other half in Snowmass, where he also instructed.  He explained to me his concept of the ski turn using a variety of metaphors. He was a natural teacher, who was clear and interesting. I told him it was fun to be able to conceptualize better some of the moves I made on skis. He then went on to tell me about the great golf courses near his residence, and I thought, “ I’m there.”

Wendy and Carl from Massachusetts arrived today. Their flight from Denver had been diverted from Denver to Grand Junction. They were then bused to Snowmass, arriving at 2:00 AM. Energetic and enthusiastic people, they came to breakfast at 7:30 ready to hit the hill.

It is gay ski week in Aspen. This is a huge event that has grown over the years. We’ll try to go to town, which is nine miles by car, tomorrow afternoon to catch some of the festivities and then have an early dinner. This year I have my car in the hotel   garage, which saves us from continually having to dig it our over the time we are here.