Deer Valley 2010

The other night, I dusted off my skis and cleaned the cobwebs out of my ski boots - I even stretched.

We were in SLC for the UNLV-Utah basketball game, followed by a day of skiing and an ultrasound of baby Earl.

I always love flying into Salt Lake. Not only is it pretty, the best part is that it's about an hour and 15 minutes flying time....versus a 6 hour car ride. I am all about efficiency. Plus, I hate that drive.

Nine of us met at Benihana for our pre-game meal. The kids brought friends and our lovely nieces had driven up from Provo to cheer on the Rebels. You gotta love the samuri chefs that work the grill, holler in Japanese, and cook everything right in front of you. I just nod a lot and eat what they put in front of me. We were ready for some basketball.

The game was interesting. Here's UNLV - one of the elite teams in the conference playing mid-level Utah. This is a game UNLV should win but the Utes are just a terrible matchup for the Rebels so they lost their 3rd game in a row. I did wear my Utah sweatshirt at the game while the rest of my clan all wore rebel gear. And when the rebels scored, their cheering was about the only noise in the Huntsman Center.

Thursday meant skiing for me and an ultrasound for Tiffany.

Deer Valley opened 30 years ago and is a place I wouldn't be caught dead at during my heyday of mogul skiing and other apres ski activity. The slopes were too groomed, tissue boxes in the lift lines, they sold wine by the glass....you know, it was sort of a hoighty toighty place for non-skiers.



Alas, I have become what I once despised.

Deer Valley is right up my alley now. Groomed runs, good food options, and no lines.

Still, this day was no walk in the park.

Walking in ski boots is never a chic thing and try as I must to maintain coolness, it's just not possible. The heel-toe rock in ski boots remains as dorky today as it was 20 years ago. I was tired by the time I got in line to buy my lift ticket. Worry lines had already deepened on my mug.

My ski buddy and longtime friend Mark is one of those uber healthy doctors. 6'1" maybe 180 pounds, plays a lot of tennis, does CARDIO and has a banana/yogurt/energy bar for breakfast. Me? I need a navy breakfast. Eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, toast, juice - the works.





The first run wasn't so bad - warming up the motor by avoiding kids snowplowing and old guys zig-zagging back and forth bent over like they are pulling weeds. Hysterical. Hopping one lift after another to the top of the mountain and by the 3rd or 4th run I was feeling a serious burn in my thighs. My lungs were doing so great either. Frankly, I couldn't wait until Mark wanted to stop for lunch and have his oatmeal or a fruitcup and I could wolf down some chili, and a baconcheeseburger with fries and onion rings.





The last few runs of the day were on the black diamond runs. At Deer Valley these expert runs aren't terribly difficult since there aren't any moguls to speak of. The runs are just steep and long. By this time, I needed to blow about every 300 yards. I could manage the legs, but the lungs were heaving. I realized that the effort getting into and out of a golf cart doesn't provide the cardio work necessary to ski at 10,000 feet as well as I would like to. As Mark said, "The mind is willing, but the body is unable." I hope you were just talking about skiing there Mark.

The soreness that is searing my body right now - even some 3 days later - is that good kind of soreness where you know you did somethign physical and pushed your limits. I was also proud of not falling. I did tip over at one point but since I wasn't skiing, that does not count - just like kills below the hard deck in Top Gun.

I had a wonderful time and look forward to skiing again soon in a few weeks. In the meantime, I have some serious work to do for my legs and lungs. This should be interesting.

The best part of the quick trip was seeing baby Earl's sonogram. I took one look at it and blurted, "It's a boy," and was quickly shut down by the girls, "Uhhhh....Those are his arms."

"Oh."





Jake and I just laughed.

Like we always do.