Skiing in the Rain....

Among all the fun and exciting things this weekend, I have to tell you about one of them. I called my mom on Saturday morning to see when she was headed up to visit my sister and new baby Wyatt, I wanted to go with her. Well, my dad gets on the phone and asks if I want to go skiing. Seeming as we have been so busy this winter and I hadn't made it up one time, I couldn't say no. So up we went and it was a beautiful day! I was skiing in a short sleeved t-shirt with my ski pants unzipped up to my knees (they have zippers on the sides for venting).

With an afternoon forecast of thunderstorms, we saw some dark clouds heading our way. At first they started to head south, but decided to give us a visit as well. With 20 minutes left before there scheduled closing, they stopped the lift due to lightning. They eventually started it back up to give people a ride to the top so they could take the tram down the mountain, their recommend method. Us being us, do you think we took the tram? Nooo.... we had to take the hardest path possible. So we get to the top and start headed down. As we were on the chair, it started to raining. I can say, I have never skiing in rain before! It was a new experience.

So we start heading over to the Cirque and while on the ridge of the mountain, we here this great roll of thunder. Where there is thunder, there is lightning. As we found ourselves on the top of a mountain, our thought were "get to lower ground!" So as we are trying to get to a spot where we can drop in, we find we have to cross about a 6 foot patch of rock/dirt. We have to take our medal ski's off, hold them straight up and down (to stable us as we walk across the rock) on the top of a very high mountain ridge. We were just two nice lightning rods waiting for its light. Getting across as quickly as possible we put our ski's back on and got off that ridges just as quickly as you could blink. By this time it was raining harder (still not that hard) and my legs were about to drop off they were so tired! I was a little worried the snow on that side of the mountain would be crap but it was really good. It made the first part of the last run of the day go easier.

So further down the mountain we are skiing down Chip's Face and all of a sudden a flash of lightning lights up the sky. Immediately following was one of the biggest rolls of thunder I have ever heard in my life! The only other time I have heard thunder like that is when on my 4th year hike in Young Women's and we were caught in a big thunder storm in the mountains. Anyways... the thunder rolled and cracked on. It was so loud and echoed in the mountain, it was absolutely amazing. I don't know about anyone else, but I am fascinated by natures power. When we got to a stopping point right after that, I told my dad that I didn't want to leave this was so cool. As the tram was over head I was not worried about getting hit by lighting and could have sat down right there and watched. If it wasn't for the rain, and the fact I didn't have any waterproof clothing on, I would have tried to get us to stay longer.

As we ski down Chip's run, we find we are out of snow. With it raining harder, we find we have to take our ski's off an walk the last part of the hill. This is not unusually for spring skiing and is part of the fun. By the time we get to the car we probably have walked at least a mile and a half in ski boots... not the best part of the day. Can I say I was ready to be in my tennis shoes and off my feet.

As soon as we got back, I hopped in the car with my mother and we went to the hospital to visit Liz and Wyatt. It was so fun being there and holding that little baby. He is so cute and so good, it makes me start thinking of when the Bray Family should add to its numbers.

It was so fun riding up the lift with my father and talking about how next year we will be teaching Sawyer how to ski. As I have never taught anyone, this will be a new experience of its own.

It was a great Saturday!

I will add some pictures later day, so check back soon!

Until Next Time....