The great thing about Skiing in mid-December is the lack of lift lines, the ability to make fresh tracks into late morning, and discount lift and lodging. On the negative side you take your chances with snow coverage. Lucky for us we had plenty of snow (man made and natural) to play in. With the use of cell phones and walkie-talkies we were able to get fifteen skiers together most mornings.

It takes about 16 hours to drive to Dillon from NW Indiana or as Bob put it, "It's like working a double at Inland". We left at 8:30pm on Friday and we had lunch in Dillon on Saturday. The others in our condo rolled in throughout the day. Our condo had a good size kitchen, so we went to City Market and filled up the Fridge and cabinets. After a much needed rest and a good breakfast, it was off to Copper Mountain for our first taste of the Colorado Rockies for this ski season. There we hooked up with rest of the gang, some already had two days under their skis. We took the lift up and headed for some blue groomers. The first run of the season gives reason to pause. Did I use the right wax? Did I work out enough? Can I get down this run without making a fool myself? All come to mind. Yes, Yes, and Yes are the answers to those questions. I wish I could recite the names of the runs, but I just followed the group and had a blast. We hooked up at Jack's for after skiing refreshment.

Monday we headed for Keystone; I had never skied there and was looking forward to skiing a new area. I was not disappointed. Some of the higher elevations were not open due to lack of coverage, but they had plenty of runs to keep you busy for the day. They use two Gondolas to get you to the different areas along with high-speed chairs. After skiing we headed over to the Dillon Dam Brewery for $2 pints and half-price appetizers set up by Marcia Dalton. We had the waiter hopping to fill our orders before everything went to full price at 6:00pm.

Tuesday we headed for Breckenridge -- another area I had never skied. Breckenridge numbers their peaks to identify them. Peaks 8 & 9 were open with mostly blue, groomed runs on beth. John took us over to Chair 6, but it wasn't open yet due to some blasting and filming going on. While taking some cruisers we heard the blast and headed back to Chair 6. When we reached the top, which was above tree line, the wind was blowing fairly hard so no one lingered. To get back to Peak 9 you have to take a long green run that required poling in some areas. Bob and I thought we found a shortcut and ended up skiing through a subdivision. It led to a chair that took us right back to Peak 8. Breckenridge has one of the biggest Terrain Parks I have ever seen for all you snowboarders. Tuesday was also John Kuhn's birthday. After skiing John and some of the group went back to a club at Keystone to hear Swing Crew play and celebrate John's Birthday.

Wednesday we went to one of my favorite ski resorts -- Vail. I think if I had two weeks I would be hard pressed to ski all of Vail. We were blessed with 2" of fresh powder and we made fresh tracks all over that mountain. I again skied with a large group, never knowing where I was going or where I had been. I just kept blasting through that fresh snow having the time of my life. After the morning runs people split off into smaller groups only to regroup at lunch. We had lunch at Two Elks Lodge; it had been rebuilt after being burned down several years ago. After lunch we headed down China Bowl and worked our way over to Blue Sky Basin an area of blues and blacks with some fantastic glade skiing. As I said, Vail is so big it is easy to lose your bearings. Lucky for us we had a guide. Jim led us back to the Lionshead base at the end of the day.

Thursday I took the day off with Bob and Richard. John and Kent went to Loveland ski area where Kent did his part to enrich the economy by purchasing new skis. Joe and Dave went back to Keystone. Larry' s group skied Beaver.

Friday it was back to Vail. It was probably the coldest morning of the week... only in single digits. We skied some blue cruisers to warm up. Larry got everyone warmed up with a long trek across level snow known as poling. He was too far in front to hear his name used in vain, but when people caught their breath the radios were buzzing. We ended up back in Blue Sky Basin and skied there until a late lunch. After lunch we took a few more runs and it was time to bid adieu to Vail.

What a week it had been! We did not ski all of Summit County, but we certainly made a dent. We did have two injuries both were shoulder problems.

The Usual Suspects were:
Larry (I'll Pole If I Want To) Douglas, Dave (My Hands Are Cold) Vignocchi,
Dave (Where's the NASTAR Course?) Hubinger,
George (I'm Back) Navadomskis,
Jim (I Skied 1/2 Day More than Everyone Else) Szyszka,
Larry (Mr. Bumps) Radice, Carol (I Hate Poling) Radice,
Richard(Schultz) Culp, Bob (Pain? What Pain?) Gilless, Tim (Cookie) Biesen,
John (It Wash 't Me) Kuhn, Kent (Where's the Remote?) Kitchel,
Dave (I'm Back with a Vengeance) Boylan,
Joe (My Boots Don't Fit) Sarwacinski, and our most gracious mountain host, Marcia (I Live Here and You Don't) Dalton

Come to the January Ski meeting to hear 14 different versions of this story...