How I Fell in Love with Skiing

If you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you probably know that I work for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. Also if you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you probably know I haven't written a ton about skiing or snowboarding.

Despite living in Colorado for a year and half, my experiences with skiing and snowboarding before moving to Park City were not super numerous. My dad tore his ACL skiing when I was a kid so, as a result, our family trips tended more towards beaches than mountains. 

I learned to ski when I was 22 when I went to Breckenridge with a bunch of fellow USOC interns. Interestingly enough, that is also where my dad tore his ACL. So, I learned to ski at the same place where my dad ended his skiing career.

First time skiing...gotta love the '80s ski pants I found at Goodwill for $12.

My first time skiing consisted of a fellow intern going up the chairlift to the top of the bunny hill with me, telling me there wasn't much she could teach me, then her skiing off to another run. So, I did the bunny hill over and over again, watching other people and just doing what seemed like it was right. By the end of the day, she talked me into going down a blue run with her. I did pretty decently until I fell and couldn't figure out how to put my ski back on. 

Despite ending my ski day on a low note, I was talked into returning to the ski hill by my lovely friends Ruth and Steven Moll, who lived in Denver at the time. We went to Loveland Ski Area a few times and had a very relaxing, fun couple of ski days. 

On one of our trips to Loveland, Ruth and I decided to go up to the top of the mountain to try out a blue run we had seen on the map. Due to terrible visibility and our less-than-expert knowledge of the ski area, we somehow ended up going down a black diamond. That remains to this day the most challenging terrain I have tackled on skis. And it probably looked like I was physically trying to tackle the ski hill the entire tire since I pretty much slid down the entire run on my ass.

My next adventure in skiing occurred when my sister decided to visit me in Colorado for spring break. I had the brilliant idea of taking her skiing. So, we drove through lots of nature for several hours to Monarch Mountain. After getting rental skis and equipment, we headed to the bunny hill. Now, if you know my sister, you know that sometimes she gets worked up very quickly. After falling a few times on the bunny hill, she pretty much decided she was done. I finally yelled at her at one point in time: "Can't is the cancer of happen!" This was a crazy Charlie Sheen phrase that we had been laughing at a few days earlier. Fortunately, it made her laugh and she eventually got the hang of the bunny hill!

Skiing sistradres at Monarch Mountain

After moving to San Diego, I didn't ski for awhile. There were ski resorts a couple of hours away, but when it was 70 degrees and sunny out in January, skiing wasn't in the forefront of my mind.

Fast forward a year. After getting laid off and taking a job at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, I found myself in Park City, Utah. And something magical happened.

After the first snowfall of the year, all I wanted to do was ski. Even though it'd been a year or so since I'd been on the slopes, it felt like yesterday that I had heard the wind as I wound my way down a run. I anxiously awaited the resort opening dates and, a few weeks after opening day, made my way to Park City Mountain Resort with my friends Korey and Ashley.

Back in the saddle again!

Now, it's January and I'm skiing at least twice a week. I bought my own ski boots, then caved and bought my own skis a few days later. My friend Julia and I frequent night skiing at PCMR to sneak in a little bit of ski time after work. I've had two ski days with my coworkers in my department. And every single time, I just love it. My quads may be burning at the end of the day and I may have a knack for falling and injuring my hands, but it's just FUN!!

First day out on my own skis at Deer Valley

Also, I got smart and bought a helmet. PSA for a moment - please wear a helmet when participating in snow sports!!

So, in short, I love skiing. Even as I sit here writing this, I'm thinking about how much I'd love to be out skiing even though my quads hurt from skiing yesterday and I have to rest for my half marathon tomorrow.

I never thought I'd say this...but can winter please not end???

Weekend Update

Okay, I'm terrible at updating this thing.

I blame the fact that I'm blogging for TeamUSA.org, keeping a daily journal for internship credit, and keeping my usual personal journal on top of all that.  Good thing I like to write, eh?

This weekend, I headed up to Denver for the second time since I came to Colorado.  I went to a Rockies game with some of the other interns and my friends from Ball State, Steven and Josh.  Coors Field was amazing!  The view was incredible...you can see the mountains from just about everywhere!  It was a good game, too.  The Rockies ended up beating the Brewers 8-7, but it really came down to the last inning.  Everyone was on their feet at the end...the last at-bat took FOREVER because of four foul balls.  After the game, I walked around downtown Denver with Steven, Josh, and Jon (an intern), then Jon and I came back to Colorado Springs late.

Last week was a busy one at work.  Our cable wasn't working in the office, so I found feeds online for everyone to watch the USA vs. Slovenia World Cup game on Friday.  I updated the website all during the game so that people could get live updates, so it was a fun morning at work.  I'm still slightly bitter about the goal that the USA scored but the ref didn't count...

Last Thursday, a bunch of the interns had a random toga party.  It's a fun bunch of people, so we tend to do random things like that!  I've also made friends with a couple of athletes and they've been hanging out with us, too!  So, here are some pictures for you all...

Me (in a toga) and Alexy, one of the gymnasts

5th trip to the Incline...down to 52 minutes!

Interns at the Finish Line, a bar across the street from the OTC

OTC and Manitou Incline

Today is my brother Jordan's last day in Colorado Springs...so he got to decide what we were doing today.  His decision?  The Manitou Incline.

Now, ever since I found out I would be spending my summer in Colorado Springs, I knew I wanted to tackle "The Incline" at some point.  However, I figured "at some point" would be after I'd had a few weeks to adjust to the altitude and get into a regular exercise routine...I certainly wasn't expecting to climb it on my second full day here!  But Jordan wanted to go for it, and Steven enthusiastically encouraged it.  Ruth and I were a little less optimistic but we still went for it...even though it meant waking up at 5:45am.

A little background on the Incline for those of you not familiar with it...it consists of the remnants of an old cog railway that closed in 1990.  Following the railway's close, hikers, athletes, and people looking for a unique workout took over, turning it into an unofficial hiking trail.  It is technically illegal to climb because it's private property (so hiking the Incline is trespassing), but you'd never know that by looking at it.  On any given day, there are plenty of people climbing up and down it.  The Barr Trail to Pikes Peak meets it twice, once about halfway up (providing the "bailout trail" for people who don't think they can make it up to the top) and then again at the top (so most people take the Incline up and the Barr Trail down).  The Incline ascends over 2,000ft in a mile and a half...so it's a very challenging workout but gives you a lot of personal satisfaction when you've reached the summit!

The Manitou Incline...and me regretting my decision to climb it

Believe it or not, this is the easy part.

Made it to the top!

Jordan, Ruth, and I made it to the top in just under an hour and a half, which surprised all of us, I think (we were half-expecting to have to use the bailout trail).  I'm already anxious for my next trip to the Incline...climbing stairs up the side of a mountain has to be a good workout for speedskating!

And, as promised...here are a a few pictures from our trip to the US Olympic Training Center yesterday!

Ruth and I imitating the short track speedskater statues behind us

Jordan hurt himself trying to imitate the above karate pose

This is for you, Hillary!

We mainly just goofed around with the statues, obviously...we drove back by the dorm that I'll be living in, but we weren't really sure if we were allowed back there or not.  So, after our exploratory drive and our goofing around, we headed back to Ruth and Steven's apartment!  

We ate dinner at Trinity Brewing Company, which was excellent...I unfortunately didn't take my camera, though.  We had cheesecake made with beer!  And more surprisingly...it was really good!  Jordan and Steven were more interested in the beer that Trinity brews themselves, though.

That's it for now...tomorrow probably won't be too interesting because I'll be recovering from the Incline!

Tourist Day

Today is my first full day in Colorado Springs, and I spent it as a tourist!  Ruth took Jordan and I around Colorado Springs and the surrounding area to see the sights.  I'm sunburnt already because of the sun being more intense here.  It's been a fun day so far, and it isn't over yet because we're going out for dinner in a little bit!

The first stop of the day was Garden of the Gods, a park with a bunch of neat rock formations.  Instead of talking about it, I'm just going to post a couple of pictures cause that does it better (although still not fair) justice!

The Balanced Rock

Jordan doing some "scrambling"

Next stop was Pikes Peak, which was not an easy stop to get to!  Pikes Peak is a "fourteener," meaning that it is over 14,000 ft in elevation (14,110 to be exact).  There's a highway that goes up to the top, so Ruth drove us up that.  The drive is quite an experience in itself...there are switchbacks, steep drop offs without guard rails, parts that aren't paved...it's nineteen miles long, but it takes a bit of time to get up to the summit because of the grade and the 20mph speed limit!  And, again...here are some pictures for you!

This picture was actually taken at Garden of the Gods, but that's Pikes Peak in the background!

View on the drive up

Brother and I at the summit

Ruth and I at the summit

After leaving Pikes Peak, we ate lunch in Manitou Springs.  Manitou Springs is a cute little town in the foothills with lots of fun shops...I didn't get to visit any, but I'm hoping that there'll be a group of USOC interns willing to shop with me!

We ended the day with a quick visit to the US Olympic Training Center so Jordan and Ruth could see where I'll be living and working...but I'll post pictures of that later!  Off to dinner!

Welcome to the Springs

I'm here!

I'm writing this from the guest bedroom of Ruth and Steven's apartment...they're two of my greatest friends and they've been kind enough to share their apartment with me for the next few days!  The balcony looks out onto Pikes Peak!

I'll update more tomorrow when I'm not exhausted (driving from Indianapolis to Colorado Springs in 14 hours will do that to you!)...but it is beautiful here, and I'm so excited for this summer!

Update

This will probably be my last post before I am in Colorado!  My brother and I are driving out to Colorado Springs on Thursday.  We're leaving at like 4am so that we can drive straight through (not my idea...my brother does not like stopping once he gets started on a road trip)...we should end up in Colorado by dinner time!  Since I can't move into the USOC dorms until June 1, I'm staying with Ruth and Steven for a couple of days.  It'll be nice getting to explore the Springs a bit before moving in.

My first day of actual work is June 2.  There are two interns in my department, myself and a guy from New York named Brandon.  He and I have been emailing back and forth this week, so it'll be nice having someone right away who I already kind of feel like I know.  He's got a ton of video production experience and said he'll teach me a bit about it, so I'm excited for that!  I think he and I will work well together, and it seems like our skills will complement each other nicely!

4 days until I leave for Colorado...8 until I move into the US Olympic Training Center!

Step One is Done

My background check is complete!  And all of my paperwork (so far) is submitted to the USOC!

All I have to do now is wait for them to give me my start date!  I was hoping I'd hear before the weekend (my background check finished up on Thursday), but no such luck.  Oh well.  I think it's the Intern Coordinator who tells us our start date, not our actual departmental bosses.  So, that means I probably have to wait for all of the other interns to clear their background checks, too, then we'll all get an email about our start date.  It should be either June 1 or 7...so check back and I'll let you know as soon as I know!

If we start June 1, I'll probably leave Indianapolis around the 28th of May.  I'm guessing my brother Jordan and I will drive straight through when we drive to Colorado Springs, but since neither of us have ever really road tripped that far west before, I want to make sure we have time.  Plus, we have people to stay with in Colorado (Ruth and Steven!  Can't wait to see you guys!), and I'm sure they'll be up to showing us around the city if we're there a few days early!