As you know I started ski journey when I met My Valentine. Skiing is his passion, and I wanted to tag along on the airline ski weeks. They sounded amazing. Therefore, in January of 2019 when I was the young age of 42, he took me to Steamboat Springs. One of the ladies in our group took me on the bunny hill to give me the basics, and I picked it up. I skied three days that week and it was tough! My legs were burning terribly, and as you more mature ladies know fear is a huge factor! I had been doing CrossFit for three years, and I couldn’t believe this was so hard. I didn’t understand. But I loved being on the mountain, and I enjoyed the people I was meeting.
I wanted to get some lessons because the better you are at skiing the more fun you have. In December 2019, we took Sweet Gram to Copper Mountain because we couldn’t find anyone to stay with her and she goes where we go. We decided to take her and the two friends we shared a condo with were extremely helpful in keeping an eye on her and giving her a banana or a mac and cheese snack throughout the day. She had a great time and loved seeing the snow. She would sit by the fire and stare out the window as she did in our hometown when it snowed. We still see people who remember her at Apres ski.
That year, I skied another week at Steamboat Springs. I was so excited that I could finally ski to a bar on the mountain that I wasn’t able to ski my first time there because the only runs down were hard blues and black diamonds (higher level). I was getting more comfortable on skis and tried to learn from anyone willing to teach me. Then Covid hit that March. In December, our normal ski week was canceled so we decided to create our own ski week with friends in Park City where we skied Deer Valley, Solitude, and Snowbird. I was able to make the trip because in October of 2020, we made the difficult decision to put Gram into assisted living. She had fallen too many times, and we felt keeping her at home was unsafe.
Even though ski weeks looked different than in the past we were still able to travel and get to different resorts that allowed me to continue my ski journey. Gram passed away in February 2021. I still miss her and her cute smiling self. And there are so many times I wish she was still here to enjoy all these adventures with us. She would absolutely love them and enjoy seeing the snow.
Life has been crazy since she left us because my husband and I believe in the philosophy of never being home LOL. I have since been able to join my love on all the airline ski weeks since then. Although we live in Florida, we average about 25 days of skiing a year. This has helped me go from the bunny hill to black diamonds. The harder runs still scare me to death but I love that I can keep up with the team and see the backcountry. In my short skiing career of six years, I have been to 23 resorts in five countries on three different continents! I still pinch myself and wonder if it’s real.
Although I never dreamed of being a skier, my dreams of seeing the world are coming true. And seeing the world from places that many people never even get to is amazing. I am not sure what percentage of the population gets to view the world from the tops of the mountains, but I imagine it’s not high. Some people have no desire to leave their hometown let alone climb or ride to various mountain peaks. But here I am living my dream and continuing my ski journey. As a kid, I remember writing out my bucket list. My goal was to get to all 50 states, all seven continents, and as many countries as possible. At almost 49, I have been to 44 states, 23 countries, and three continents. Excited to be living out my dreams, and I thank God and Gram every day that my journey led me into this exhausting life of being a Pilot’s Wife.