This past weekend was the annual Ski Trip Extravaganza, again expertly organized by Walter. I drove up Amanda, Buddy, and Jess Friday afternoon, and we were greeted in Tahoe by sub-freezing temperatures, though the roads were fine. That night I made the mistake of drinking lots o' iced tea for dinner, so I slept a scant few hours that night, but was up early Saturday morning to head to Heavenly.
Buddy and I met up with Becky and Adam, and after an equipment rental debacle, we were finally on the slopes. The workers at Heavenly had warned us to keep ourselves covered up because the temperature at the top was -40 with wind chill, but I have to say that it didn't feel that much colder than previous years. Maybe it's because of my sweet face mask. I started out sucking as usual, but then got into my groove a bit, which still sucks, but at least I could turn both ways, albeit very slowly:
Buddy was feeling adventurous and tried out the terrain park:
There was one time when he did successfully ride the box, but unfortunately neither Becky nor I caught it on film.
That night we had our traditional turducken dinner, this time supplemented with prime rib. The rest of the night was spent with folks in various states of playing games, hot tubbing, and general merriment.
The next day Eric led us on a snowshowing trek which was very fun. We hiked around and had nice views of Lake Tahoe and Fallen Leaf lake. Eric even brought along a little stove so we could all have hot chocolate.
That evening was more chillaxing time, and I finally got to play the Wii! It was really fun as a party game console, but I was a little unconvinced about how fun it would be while playing by yourself.
Monday morning we cleaned up the place in record time, and then it was back to the real world. A big thanks to Walter for yet another awesome ski trip! Pictures here.
In unrelated news, I got in a minor accident last night when a woman backed into me at a gas station. I was a bit peeved, but the damage was minor (broken license plate holder, small scratches on my bumper) and probably not worth pursuing. But FYI, just in case all you drivers out there don't know, you should look behind you when you back up in your car. In case there's, you know, another car back there.
