Ode to the Schi Devils

In exactly one week, I embark upon a new decade of adventure and joie de vivre - I turn 30! I know, you're all thinking, "Wow, you've packed a lot of fun into those first 30 years and you look so young and gorgeous!" It's true, they've been a fabulous first three decades.

In celebration of this auspicious occasion, I got a slightly early birthday present from Steve - new skis!!! And they are simply amazing (second only in amazingness to the man who purchased them). We went up to Sundance Saturday to use up the last buddy passes and try them out and it was sheer joy. The crud, the groom, the firm, the Schi Devils tackled it all with grace. And they look pretty kick-ass with my jacket, too. Sam says that the design on the skis looks Kazakh. You gotta admit, there aren't too many 8-year-olds who would come up with that.

Here's a link to the specs, because I know you're all dying to know all about my new skis: http://www.k2telemark.com/skis/ski.asp?ProductID=24. Steve got the 167s, which are perfect even though a little piece of me still misses those 195s I skied on in high school. Oh, and new bindings, too - the Bombshell from 22 Designs. I tell you, I was skiing in style yesterday.

And, of course, I had to break in the new skis on Jamie's. You can't live in Utah and be named Jamie and try out your brand new skis at Sundance and not take the first run on Jamie's. Sorry, I was skiing solo (we can't both leave Sash yet) so there aren't any photos of my first turns, but here's the view from the top of the run. I can hear your sighs from here - yes, this is one amazing place.

Sam and I got to make a couple of runs together, which we both enjoyed. He showed me his favorite spots and landmarks (the elf's tree, Grandma, Grampa, and Silly trees, the cool cut through, etc) and was kind enough to wait patiently for me as I had to adjust my bindings a few times (new equipment, you just have to fiddle with it), which I definitely appreciated. He's one quality kid.

Sam usually only does a couple of runs before heading in to hang out in the Children's Yurt or the cafeteria, but yesterday he did so many runs that he lost track of the total! This actually caused a bit of a panic because Steve and I couldn't find him for so long - we never thought that he would still be on the snow after two hours! That's the tricky thing about free range children... they're hard to find when they're out on the range. Of course, Sam was safe and sound and happy as a clam when we found him. Ben's emphatic, "Where were you? We've been looking everywhere for you!" was met with the most obvious of answers: "On the mountain!"