Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Thursday Thirteen #2



Here I am, smack-dab in the middle of the East Coast. This is a place where we have SEASONS...you know...winter, spring, summer and fall??? Well, today's high will be 70°F, and they're expecting these temps to continue until the middle of next week. Those of you who are freezing your butts off might ask "Why is she complaining?" My answer would be a very simple "I WANT SOME SNOW!!!!!" And we all know it ain't gonna snow when it's 70 degress outside, right? So, to make me feel better (and stop whining - right?), my Thursday Thirteen is a list of places I've snow-skied in the U.S. If that won't make me think of snow, nothing will.

1. Massanutten, Virgina - the first place I ever skiied (NO, I didn't use wooden skis...). Some prefer to call it "Massa-nuthin", but for those of us who can't head up north or out west at the drop of a hat, it rocks.

2. Wintergreen, Virginia - OK, so they sometimes have to make snow there, but I can jump in my car and be there in about 2 hours. The have a great black diamond (would probably be a "blue" out west) called "The Highlands".

4. Snowshoe, West Virginia - terrific natural snow and wonderful runs and trails. You can hear John Denver singing in your ears as you swoosh down piste. They also have some bodacious tubing here for the non-skiers.

5. Park City West, Utah (now called "The Canyons") - a sweet little mountain next to huge Park City Resort where I saw my first snowboarder.

6. Park City, Utah - the home of the U.S. Ski Team. Awesome long runs and beautiful terrain. The Sundance Film Festival is held here every year.

7. Deer Valley, Utah - the valets come up to your car when you pull up, take your skis off the rack, and carry them to the slope for you. Fabulous houses are built along the slopes, and the food is to die for.

8. Copper Mountain, Colorado - tough, tough terrain. The hardest skiing I ever experienced.

9. Keystone, Colorado - fabulous bowl skiing, and they have a spot at the bottom of one of the slopes for sunbathing.

10. Beaver Creek, Colorado - another great Colorado ski resort. They have a quaint little store near the resort called "Beaver Liquor" (I'll show you my T-shirt sometime!).

11. Vail, Colorado - THE BOWLS, THE BOWLS, THE BOWLS. Huge resort, so much to do and see, and unparalled skiing. There's a huge restaurant at the bottom of one of the black diamond slopes where everyone rates the best falls down the hill (kinda sick, huh?).

12. Aspen, Colorado - tough terrain, but great for people watching (I sat next to Michael Keaton at a bar there).

13. Snowmass, Colorado - my A-#1, top favorite ski resort of all time. The most beautiful scenery anywhere, and in the early morning, you can follow the snow cats down the slopes during their grooming sessions. I think I did some of my best skiing ever at this wonderful place.

So...Happy Thursday, everyone...THINK SNOW!!!!!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

You can keep your snow. Thank you! LOL! I am in NY and we are having 60+ today, I am very very happy. I have never skiied myself. I'm a sissy. LOL! Happy TT!

Lee Ann aka Dixie said...

Oh sounds like sooooo much fun. That is one thing that I have never done, but is on my things I want to do before I die wish list..

I WANT SNOW TOO!!! LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IS SNOW!!!!

Vinny "Bond" Marini said...

OK PIA:

Never been to Utah, but had a friend who lived in colorado and I went out for two weeks.

Skiied:
ASPEN HIGHLANDS... Nice area not as crowded as-

ASPEN - Liked it here, but only skiied one day.

COPPER MOUNTAIN - L-O-V-E-D it

KEYSTONE - My friend worked here, so we spent a good amount of time dodging the "balloon heads" - Oh and one day I sat on the porch shirt off, in shorts sipping hot chocolate with jack daniels... the best

ARAPAHOE - THE GREATEST... skiing at 15,000 feet...above the tree line.. OMG and one day we were there, we had a white out..and as we were skiing a quote from jean claude Kiley came to mind when they asked him why he was such a good skier, and he said "They ski with their eyes, I ski with my feet."
That day, I skiied with my feet, since I could not see my friends who were 3 feet away.

TopChamp said...

beautiful!

Happy TT

Piacere said...

Busy: Just send that snow down here and I'll put it to good use!!

Dixie: Thank goodness!! Another snow lover!! And you gotta try skiing at least once. They have mountains in TN - go for it!!

Bond: Ok, where do I start? Ballon heads are a major obstacle, but don't you get extra points??? (teeheehee) A-Basin was the only place I missed on my last trip. Stayed too long at Keystone. Would definitely love to try it in June - they say it's wonderful. And regarding Jean-Claude's skiing method: I ski with my BUTT a lot of the time!!!!

topchamp: TY - Happy TT back 'atcha!