Skiing in August

After making our way back from our trip to the sweat box of Texas, we've settled back into winter... and by settled back into, I mean we are surviving.  (I really am not a big fan of the cold in general).

Being neighbors to the great Andes comes with a certain feeling of obligation to take advantage of the things that come with living next door to giant mountains.  When some friends organized a day ski trip to El Colorado, we jumped at the chance to tag along.

A skier I am not.  In case I had forgotten just how "not a skier" I was, I was reminded in the first 4 seconds of the first run down the easiest hill when I fell, lost my ski, and then couldn't get it back on without taking the other one off and walking back up the hill to flatter ground.  Meanwhile, 2 foot children were racing down the adjacent hill, proving that adulthood sometimes just means you have further to fall and a heightened sense of how unfun it is to suck at something.  Regardless, I skied between falling and rolling down the mountain.  At some point during the first run and  the give or take 20 times I found my self horizontal in the snow, the camera that was in my pocket was in there no longer--- sacrificed to the Andes along with all the pictures from 2013 in Chile.  I clung to some hope as we rode to the top and walked down scanning the hill, but realized pretty soon that finding a silver camera in the snow was a pretty hopeless endeavor.  Admittedly, I allowed myself to sulk in the tragedy as we hiked back up the hill (turns out you can't ride the chairlift sans skis), but then got some perspective, realized we were in a place so pretty it hurt, and that the day could be salvaged even if the camera was a goner.  

By the end of the day, I was beginning to get the hang of being on skis, as in only falling 2-5 times per run.  Once I fell into one of those temporary fence things and knocked it over, and then decided that I would just go under it instead of trying to maneuver myself around it.. Because... Please.  A skier I am not, but I certainly earned the beer at the end of the day.

When we left, we put our name on a list of lost items... Just incase you find them.. Call me... With about 25 other people from that day who had lost phones, cameras, wallets, etc.  When the snow melts, I feel like El Colorado is a technology graveyard.

Luckily, some friends were kind enough to snap some pictures and smart enough (unlike this fool) to keep tabs on their cameras.  Stolen photos.  Thanks guys!!