Outside Looking In: Longing for home, west, or France

This is the year it all clicked. Even though this is the year I almost knocked myself unconscious and boarded into the non-padded side of a chairlift support pole, I definitely think I am getting the hang of it. In all fairness I hit my head on the first day, which fortunately was also the first day I decided I should be wearing a helmet, and I slowly slid (on my ass) into the pole on a sheet of ice in order to avoid hitting some lady that had fallen right in front of me. As we prepare for our extra long weekend (4 days) in Stowe at the end of the month, I am day dreaming of the powder that really doesn't exist in the north east. Since France is far, and ski resorts out west are expensive, I settle for slushy, ice, and granulated snow but hopefully we will be blessed with some powder up in Stowe. We got lucky on January first in Belleayre, the Mountain was empty, the lift tickets were $19 and it snowed all morning stopping just as we arrived for a day of the best powder I imagine you could have in New York state. It's amazing how your skill level improves when you trade hard ice for soft snow. I started to push myself a little and I am totally addicted. I wish I could go every weekend throughout the winter. This is only a wish as my attempt to make this happen involved going back to Mountain Creek which is only an hour away and still in New Jersey. Its safe to say that no one is coming out of state of from Switzerland to ski the hills of NJ. So for now until I have a private jet I will have to settle for occasional trips upstate with decent-to good conditions, and one trip a year to VT for hopefully good-excellent conditions. Here are some photos from this years trips.