K2 Women's Weekend at Pajarito, NM

HI- Just wanted to let everyone know we had a great K2 weekend in Las Alamos N.M. Feb. 6th-8th! Lots of women(45 women)  from the Southwest showed up. The event started off with a silent auction, power point presentation, packet pick up and good food! An amazing woman(cancer survivor) spoke of her experiences and filled us all with her strength and positive thoughts. Saturday we all skied on lots of different Luvs and loved them all! Saturday night yoga and dinner and Sunday back on the slopes! So much fun to meet new friends and find new ski partners! A wonderful time had by all!- Lehigh

Happy Day in Tahoe

Went to sleep last night, anticipating just 3 - 5 inches of new snow overnight. I woke up to the sound of our driveway being plowed...how long has it been since I've heard that?!  14" to 16" of new snow was reported at Alpine Meadows, but it felt like much more. All of Tahoe/Truckee was taking the morning off, as this was literally our 3rd, maybe 4th, powder day of the season. So much snow, so deep...too deep?!  Thank you, thank you, Mom Nature. We have missed you & welcome you back to town! You've made us all very happy today

Demo day at Alpine Meadows

Elianne, Meagan & Julie

What fun...catching up with friends, enjoying a great day on the mountain, and getting to check out next year's line of skis! It was great to hear the glowing reviews coming in from each participant after their test runs. Love the new skis & graphics...nice job, everyone! I'm really excited for the '09-'10 Lotta Luvs...must find a new jacket to compliment the graphics.   Elianne and I got to try out a few of the new models, as well as hang out with Alliance member Meagan Jones from Mammoth.

And they call it a vacation?

I wanted to share a recent "ski vacation weekend" that we spent with our daughter, son-in-law, and smallish granddaughter here in snowy West Virginia. Little Abby is 6 and this is her third winter on skis. She is under the midguided impression that all 6 year olds ski, so when she runs across one of her peers that has not had the good fortune to be from a skiing family, she feels very bad for them - even offering to bring them along on her next ski trip so she can show off her teaching skills.

After quite a growth spurt, last years Luv Bug's were too short by a mile, so we had no choice but to throw ourselves into the rental arena, emerging a scant hour later with boots and skis, minus the too-short pair that somehow disappeared during the melee. Everything went fine that first day, with the exception of the lost skis, the family mini-van getting stuck in a snowbank in the driveway (where son-in-law went to retrieve ski gloves and goggles left in haste), and 1 pair of skis getting locked in the ski shop when they closed for lunch.

Day 2 started rather slowly, finally getting everyone loaded into the van by noon arriving at the mountain just as the lift lines went into hyperdrive. Abby, the 6 year old ski prodigy, did great until Dad arrived and took her under his wing on a trail not known for being family friendly. Quite awhile later we all met back up with the only casualities being 2 deflated egos, 2 very cold little hands (the result of too-small mittens also Dad's fault), 1 lost cell phone and my daughter's  missing hat.

All in all it was a wonderful visit - good memories made yet again. Now the family is gone and we are left with everyone's skis, boots, poles and assorted items we've never seen before. And I seem to be missing a hat.

Girl SKi Partner Essentials, A Checklist from Powder Magazine

Last weekend I took an Avalanche Level 1 Course in Silverton, Colorado. So amazing. Then I was reading Powder Magazine and came upon this list. It was so appropriate to the weekend and to the Alliance I thought I would share it:

Girl Ski Partner Essentials, A Checklist:
-Packs excellent snacks, like Snickers.
-Refers to tough times in a relationship as "Pocket of Instability."
-Owns a 70's ski outfit, and rocks it unprompted (Mine is a 1970 Bogner - Orange Corduroy - Very hot)
-Can operate a beacon , and has figured out those straps.
- Has an off-season training routine . . . for skiing, not drinking.
-Knows the owners of a heli or cat operation, and can get you on for free.
-Has taken an avalanche course.
-Has the grace to take the rear when she knows last night's burrito grande might kick in.
-Is totally down to share the day over a brewski she thoughtfully planted in the snow that morning (we drink tequila in Taos.)

Skiing in South America

A few days ago, I was flipping through Ski Press Magazine and I came across an article called "Switchbacks and Ceviche, a South American Adventure" written by our own Alliance gal, Beth Jahnigen Pappas.  As I was reading it, I had to laugh because it couldn't have been more exact on my own South American experience.

During ski season, when I didn't want winter to end...another winter and 5 months in South America seemed like a great idea, so I booked a ticket to South America.  But as July 1st approached, the date I was suppose to leave, I wasn't so sure I wanted to give up summer.  Although, reluctantly I boarded the plane and headed for Argentina.

After locating my luggage that had been lost somewhere in transit, I finally made it to Las Lenas...6 hours out in the middle of nowhere.  I found a place to live with a bunch of men (or maybe I should say boys).  This seems like it may have been nice being the only chick, but sharing a room for 3 months with a bunch of snoring farting men who loved to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning was less than ideal.  Then there was the marte chair, which has the steepest pitch of any chair I've ever been on and swings in the wind as it crosses a terrifying cliff band...although they seemed to have a hard time opening this chair, which was too bad because it accesses all the good terrain.  Most frustrating of all were the lift lines, which funneled you to the loading point...you literally had to fight your way to the front, and I don't know how I was expected to get forward when the person behind me wouldn't get off my skis.

While I continued to endure blizzards worst than any I'd ever experience...I was thinking of my friends back home enjoying warm summer weather.  Then there was my brush with deadly illness (still can't figure out what I ate).  But I recovered from that and as it turns out the fire season back home had been one of the worst on record and I have to say blizzards are better than smoke.

However, the powder and skiing made it all worth while and I hope to return for another ski season.