Skiing Steamboat Colorado

It was about a 3 hour drive from the Denver airport to Steamboat, Colorado. The longer we drove the more remote everything became. During the last hour or so, it felt as though it was just our car, miles of empty landscape--and us. Miles of empty land as far as the eye could see. Honestly, it was a little creepy.

Finally, we started to see signs of civilization and soon we had arrived at Steamboat. Upon arrival, we unpacked and did the grocery shopping. After picking up groceries, we stopped for gas at a Sinclair station complete with the trademark Sinclair dinosaur. There was a saddle on the Sinclair dinosaur. All I can tell you is, if you put a saddle on a dinosaur, you just aren't giving me much of a choice, are you? I'm going to have to climb on. And I did.

Finally, we went back to our resort and waited for our gear to arrive. Once the skis, boots and poles arrived and we tried on the boots, it started to feel real. I only put those boots on once a year, but as soon as I snapped them on my feet, I could feel my heart skip a little beat. Soon we would be hitting the slopes.

On the first morning of skiing, we looked outside and quite honestly, we were a little disappointed. It was kind of half-snowing and half-raining. It looked slushy and gross outside, but we decided to make the best of it. We traveled a long way to ski and we were going to ski no matter what. We skied through the slush, down to the gondola and started the incline to the top of the mountain. We kept going up further and further. The view was amazing! About ten minutes later, we arrived at the top of the mountain and when we stepped outside, it was snowing. It's amazing what a few thousand feet in altitude will do!

The snow came down and it came down hard. That first day, visibility was so bad and the snow was so thick that all four people in our group wiped out at one time or another. (Falling in that much powder wasn't very painful.) There were times where you couldn't tell the difference between the sky and the ground. There were times I had to stop and look back for my friends and I couldn't see any of them. I couldn't see anyone at all for that matter. In fact, at one point we all stopped to try to determine which way to go because we couldn't tell if we were still even on the trail. In actuality, the ski lift was just a few yards ahead of us, but none of us could even see it.

The non-stop snow and powder covered everything. The landscape had a surreal, dreamlike quality to it. The trees looked like they were dipped in whipped cream. It looked like we had stepped onto the set of Narnia. It was some of the most beautiful scenery I had every seen.

Day two was a little better. It still snowed, but we could see a little better and the freshly groomed powder started to make for some really nice skiing conditions. The trees were still covered and just breathtaking.

Hands down, day three was the best. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and the mountain was covered with Steamboat's signature Champagne Powder. The conditions were so good, I actually felt like I was skiing better than I ever had in my life. I knew that before we got too tired and before we stopped for lunch, it was time to conquer the black diamond slopes.

Being unfamiliar with this mountain and feeling brave but not crazy, I decided to ask an instructor for guidance on an "easier" black trail. He directed us towards Cyclone.

Cyclone was challenging, but again, there was so much powder covering everything, it made skiing even the steep hills manageable. After conquering Cyclone, we bravely took the next black trail we saw--without any knowledge of what to expect. Heart pounding and breathing heavy, I made it to the bottom and felt the euphoric rush of success.

Skiing those challenging runs are so therapeutic. I think that my husband put it best. He said that when you are skiing those trails, you are so focused on your turns and getting down the mountain, that you don't have time to think about or worry about anything else. Your mind is completely clear of day-to-day worries because all you think about is, "Turn left, turn right, shift you weight, dig in harder, slow down, don't fall..."

On the way back to the Denver airport, we admired the scenery once again as we drove through the countryside. During our drive, we noticed something obstructing the road up ahead. What was it? We couldn't really see right away until we got closer. It turned out to be real life ranchers moving their herd across the road. I hung out the window to get as many pictures as I could. What can I say...you just don't see that sort of thing every day in Nashville.

So now it's back to regular life and work and everyday normalcy. Somehow it seems okay because I got to ride a dinosaur, climb a mountain in a gondola, fall down and get back up, conquor my fears while building my confidence on a black slope and laugh a whole lot.

(Sigh) I guess it will hold me over until next February...