Embrace The Winter

It doesn’t seem so long ago that the weather was warm and sunny. I remember the bedroom in our apartment in Indiana being really stuffy. I remember sweating to death under the harsh mid-western sun while running. Wow – Things have changed! Now I wear long johns every day. I sleep like our cat, curled up in a ball for warmth. I wear man-tights while running outside. Although I have been slow to adapt to the frigid, winter conditions of the north-east, I have finally acclimated a little. I can occasionally not wear a hat indoors. I can run outside to start the car without a heavy coat. I can go SKIING!

Chrysa and I both managed to get the day off last Thursday. When we agreed to move to New York we said that we were going to embrace the winter. Thursday we were going to put our money where our mouths were.

Oneonta is conveniently located near a couple nice ski resorts. We decided to go to Windham. Windham is about an hour away. It has 53 trails over two peaks and caters to a variety of skill levels. The variety was going to be very important. Neither of us had skied in at least ten years. This trip was either going to be a lot of fun, or a trip to the hospital. After looking online we decided to go with the four hour flex pass. This allowed us to sleep in a little and still get a solid four hours on the slopes.

We arrived at Windham after about an hour in the car. The route was simple and the scenery was very nice. After parking we wondered into the lodge to figure our rentals and lift tickets. Things have really changed in a decade. These days renting skis, a locker, and getting a lift ticket is more like going to the airport. Everything is done by kiosk. I really didn’t want to fill out information on a screen. I really just wanted to get on the slopes. I have to admit, I was grumpy about the whole thing. In retrospect I have to admit that the kiosk system worked. We moved from station to station smoothly and ended up with the proper equipment. Score one for automation.

We stepped out of the lodge into the cold winter air and it was time to put our skills, or lack thereof, to the test. The mini bunny slope was our first destination. Is the regular bunny slope a little intimidating? Fear not! Windham has a sissy hill to calm your nerves. We shuffled over and took a couple rides down. We didn’t even have to brave a lift. Simply stand on the conveyor belt and use the time to decide if you have graduated to the real bunny slope.

Chrysa and I both did the bunny slope and I decided that my muscle memory was good enough to try the bigger hills. Using lift D I found a nice green circle hill and began my descent. The hill was gentle, and well groomed, with very little ice. I figured it was right up Chrysa’s alley.

That was how the day went. We did some hills together and we did some separate. Chrysa was a bit more conservative, I was a little more risky. I lost a glove while taking a picture from the lift (don’t worry, I got it back). Chrysa took great pictures using the better camera. We took a lunch break, and I had a PBR.

It was a really nice day at the slopes that hit all of the right buttons. We got in some lower body cross training for the Buffalo Marathon, we brushed up on our skiing skills, and we got to spend a really nice day together. If this keeps up I may not miss summer so much after all. LOL

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