More Photos & Kim Going Off a Jump

The following is the video of me going off a small jump at the freestyle terrain part of Breckenridge. The jump looks like nothing, but let me assure you, it was big enough to be scary. You'll see me go down the hill at about the 4 or 5 sec mark and then crashing at about the 6 or 7 sec mark. Linh was the one who started it and was brave enough to try it first even though this was her first day of skiing in her entire life! She did awesome. I wish I had it on video, but you'll have to take my word for it. She is just naturally that talented. Too bad my first jump wasn't documented. I did a 180, but accidentally - scary! Anyway, enjoy and I hope you get a good laugh. It's a good thing the audio didn't pick up b/c there was a lot of screaming involved. Ha ha! I had a great time and will definitely give it another whirl next time.

Copper Mountain

We enjoyed a full day of skiing at Copper Mountain yesterday. It was definitely my favorite mountain. Check out the view in the photo above - this was how it was everywhere we turned. It was truly incredible! There was an awesome green (beginner) run that started way atop the mountain and took forever to get down, but it was so much fun. By the end of the day I was confident enough to try a blue run and am so glad I did it, but will definitely have to get stronger if I ever attempt it (or a black!) again. Every muscle in my body was engaged in the effort to get down the run in one piece and I think I held my breath a lot which is not a good thing at this altitude. Ha! Brian, Mark's friend from high school who lives out here, and Mark were so great at getting me down by taking the run in chunks and sticking with me the whole way down. I didn't even wipe out! I never would've done this run by myself - that's for sure. In any case, this has been a great ski trip and I'm so glad I tried some new things to push myself just a little further.

Everyone showed vast improvement over the last two days. I don't have to say anything about Linh b/c she continued to be a fearless natural. Steve and Nam were looking loose and awesome on their boards on the last couple of runs. Stacy looked comfortable and content swooshing back and forth. Van had a great time and it looks like she's really getting the hang of boarding. We'll have to get her out here again for sure. Mark had a great time going down in the bowls at Copper. And, last but not least, John was definitely most improved and most daring. After only a couple of ski trips in WI before coming out here, he was a pro by the end of yesterday heading up to the bowls (black diamonds) w/Mark and Brian. Way to go!

Also, a word of thanks to Brian for taking such great care of us. He took time from work to hang with us and didn't utter a word of annoyance when we spent most of our ski time on the green runs which were undoubtedly not challenging for him at all. Thanks for hooking us up on the slopes and for showing us a great time! We'll definitely be back.

Finally, thank you to Jan and Michael for allowing us to stay in their beautiful condo in Frisco. It was a great home base and we filled it with great conversation and laughter. Our experience was completed with such a great place to stay. Frisco is a beautiful town.

Well, we're off to enjoy our last day here before heading back to MN. I am so excited to see Keira. I've missed her every day, but the photos and videos from her grandparents have helped tremendously and I've had such a great time on our adult getaway. Check back soon as I'll post the photos and videos we took later! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Our First Day of Skiing

After a tearful parting from Keira at Grandpa and Grandma's, Mark and I set off for Colorado with our family and friends. We got into Frisco yesterday evening and have been enjoying ourselves tremendously. I struggle to force myself not to call Jim and Margaret to check on Keira, but rest assured knowing she's in good hands. That, and Jim sends me pictures of Keira every day (so far). :-)

Yesterday we enjoyed a quiet day getting settled in, followed by dinner at a local restaurant called the Blue Spruce. Today we woke up and hit Breckenridge. This was Linh's first time skiing EVER and she did amazingly well. None of us can believe that this was her first time. She didn't even take a lesson. We got her into ski gear, gave her some quick instructions and sent her up the lift. The first time I went on a lift (about 5 years ago), I came down and fell face first. Linh came down without any effort and looked like a pro. Anyway, everyone did really well. At the end of the afternoon, Linh decided to try out the freestyle terrain which included jumping off these man-made hills. She fell, but did it with awesome style and I was amazed at how brave she was to do that and how quickly she adapted to skiing. Since she did it and egged me on, I decided to have a go at it too. I wiped out on every single hill, but the thrill of the jump was fun, even if I only came up about 6" off the ground! I'll post a mini video of my wipe out when attempting the jump when we get home.

Here we are at the top of one of the runs at Breckenridge. From left to right, Stacy, John, Van, Nam, Steve, Linh, Mark and me.