Action!

These are some of my favorite action shots from Crested Butte, in no particular order. 

Gabe on skis...

Drew with a grab...

J-man (you've already seen this one!)

Stranger-boarder, but it was such a great jump, I couldn't resist.

(I figured there's no identifying features here, right?)

Little man making a jump-no fear!

Austin off the box...

J-man at another terrain park...

Lexi and her friend tucking down a blue...

We used to call this "bombing" the mountain.

The kids impressed me so much with their snowboarding that I had to take lessons before we left. I was lucky enough to get some video footage of it, and FINALLY, figured out how to copy and paste it here. I think I did ok. What do you think?

Oh, I am SOOO kidding.  :)

Maybe next time...

Day 7: Last Day

A long way down...

'Kay. So the story starts like this. I used to ski. Like, 28 years ago, to be exact and to be brave, because that gives you some indication that I'm not some young chick. (Well, I am, but just at heart.)

Anywho, I used to ski moguls. To be brave. Because they were hard and scary. I'd read a book, "Inner Skiing," that talked about finding the rhythm, quieting your mind, and just absorbing the ground with your knees. I still remember that book and the lessons. Life is like that, so much easier to navigate when you find the rhythm, and absorb what is pushed up at you.

So all week, I was so tempted by the moguls. In my age and wisdom, I decided it would be best to wait until the end of the week. Just in case, you know, if I got hurt. Wouldn't ruin the whole vacation. 

So, on this last day, on the chair, we spied a wide path through the woods. Looked like fun. Ron suggested I try it, and I said, "Nahhhh... don't know what's over there..." He said he would like to try it, but as a boarder, wanted to be sure there was some pitch to the slope. Or he'd be walking.

So I took it. By myself. And I broke through the line of trees, and guess what I saw? A black diamond sea of moguls. Yup, a whole hill of 'em. And there I was, all by myself, in the middle of the woods. 

I pulled up my big-girl snow pants, took a deep breath, and skied those moguls. During the week, we had noted those who "took" the moguls... you know, they made it down, but it wasn't like they were skiing/boarding them. And then there were those who actually skied them. Truthfully, I probably "took" them the first few yards down, but then-I found the rhythm. And it felt so good. 

This photo was taken from one of the highest points I reached. That hot red sign tells you how NOT responsible anyone is if you choose to ski that path. It tells you that it is ungroomed, which means that you can and probably will encounter rocks, trees, cliffs, whatever Mother Nature decided to leave there. And, no... not THAT brave. But I did want to go to the top, which usually means some pretty hairy skiing down. I'm afraid, and because of that, I want to tackle it. I'm afraid of that old woman who quickly becomes inactive because of Fear. So now, while I'm still this young, I want to beat Fear at her own game. So I went as high as I could, and it was no sweat getting down. So take that, Fear.

And these two? 6 and 10. They didn't "take" moguls; they skied them. And they didn't even know it. They were probably wondering what was up with all those bumps? They skied greens, blues and blacks. Fear doesn't exist in their lives. That sometimes scares me. 

It was a wonderful vacation. Thanks, daddy-o, for spoiling us. And for giving us time together.

We're leeeeaaaaving....

... On a jEt plane.

Tomorrow:  my favorite action shots, and maybe a video of me doing tricks, if I can figure out that paste & link thing.

Day 6: Can You Say "Windy"?!

Such a beautiful...

... crisp, blue day...

But it was oh-so-wIndY!

How do you photograph the Wind?

This is my daughter and her new-found friend, skiing in the 1/2-pipe. It's hard to see published here, but if you look carefully at the top of that peak, you can see the snow blowing to the left, blowing up, and up, and up....

This was taken from the lift (and I'm here to tell you, riding a chairlift on a windy day can be quite harrowing!). The Wind just lifted the snow up, as if it were falling from the ground.

The wind, She made my photographs dramatic, because She helped our muscles push the snow up, as if we were cutting hard....

... and flying fast.

That silver helmet, it really makes him look like he's from some time in the future. And this blanket of snow that crawled up the mountain adds to the drama. If you believe in ghosts, don't you think they might look like this? Or move like this? (Thanks, Hollywood.) And I just wish you could have heard that wind howl. 

My daily apres-ski drink:  2% ICED almond latte. Can't help it. I'm a southerner.

Public transportation was fun (and beautiful, don't you think?). All of the buses had different paintings on them, and they were gorgeous, in their own, bus-like ways. We took one on  most nights down into town to roam the streets, find some good eatin', and of course, visit the chocolate shop.

This is Slogar's.... a family-style fried chicken place that everyone loved. Leave it to a bunch of southerners to find a good chicken place in a small ski-town in Colorado.

Tomorrow... our last day at Crested Butte.

Day 5: random shots

I still have a few days left to document, and don't want to leave it unfinished. These are just random shots from the day.  
First week of March isn't too long past Marde Gras... Lexi kept wanting to reach out and grab some beads...
For my cloud-loving friends: they may have silver linings, but this one was golden.
Mexican for dinner. Can't you just imagine this place? The best burritos!

Day 4: Let It Snow

I love this picture of my husband and our son. It looks like they are sitting there in the snow, just talking about life, which maybe they were. I also know they were waiting for me.

And this is our friend who is 6. He rides like the wind on skis!! I had to smile so big when I noticed he was skiing with his tongue out, hoping to catch those snowflakes and swallow them whole!

Here's Austin again, looking like some futuristic power-fighter-soldier guy. He's a boarder.

Lexi and I are skiers. We don't think it's a boy v. girl thing, this preference for boarding or for skiing. It just works out that way in my family.

I have no photos of J-man on this day. Actually, it saddened me quite a bit this vacation. He said "hello" and "good-bye" quite a bit, and because he's such an affectionate kid, he threw in a few "love ya, mom!"-s for me. He preferred spending time with his friends, boarding at the terrain parks and hanging out at the hot tub. 

He's growing up.

Day 2

Sunrise over Crested Butte.

Hearty breakfast at the Avalanche.

A beautiful day, with breath-taking views. Warm and gentle, easing our southern, winter legs back into skiing and snOwboarding.

A dip into the healing water.

Crested Butte, Colorado - Day 1

Finally! We are going west!

One of Lexi's projects is to take this school bus with a picture on it of everyone in her school, and photograph it where-ever we go. She then has to keep a journal about where the bus went.

(Is there a brown-eyed fox down there?!)

Coming in to Denver.

View from plane on way to Gunnison airport.

First stop! :)

En route to Crested Butte.

(Hey! That rhymes!)

The fireplace where I will be snuggling up at the end of the day.

Austin checking out the view from our room:

And it's beautiful!

And looking straight down...

Hot-tub to ease our pains!

Tomorrow, we play!