Parenthood has not slowed Steve and Alison Cretney down one bit. But that’s no surprise to all who know them…(Alison climbed onto the roof of our house when she was 9 months pregnant!). This past Saturday they took their daughter Elliot out for her first ski touring experience and Vince and I tagged along. The tour up was great, the snow was unbelievable and Elliot had a blast. Check out the team work on the skin removal…record timing!
It was epic: I found myself waist deep in snow, which, if I was actually on my skis, would have been a good thing. But it was my first day of the ski season and I was working out the kinks. First lap, I skinned up with my boots in “ski” mode. Second lap, I decided to take a different track to capture some friends skiing down. (Gotta document the day…get a few pix.) Suddenly my boot flew out of my binding and post-holed deep into the snow. The rest of my body followed and I found myself in a tangled face plant. I tried to get up but every limb and pole I attempted to get some leverage off of sank deeper and deeper. At one point my skis were at waist level and I thought, “Thank God I’m by myself.” I mean, I could have used a helping hand but I don’t think I would have been able to stand the embarrassment. When my friends called out to me a few minutes later I yelled back “I’m all good!” (And by “good” I meant “I’m all limbs, ski gear and camera in a tangled morass of fluffy white quicksand.” I felt that the pressure was on and I remembered that age old trick of packing the snow down with your skis to form a base underneath you. And with that, it all started coming back to me: bend your knees, overexpose by a stop to compensate for the overcast light, and avoid falling in deep powder trees. Day one. Many lessons. Can’t wait for the rest of the season.
Maz is so hardcore. She left her skins at home so that she would have to really earn her turns.
Windy decisions.
How can you not?
Vince likes sweet jumps.
Yeah Maz!
Evidence. I was there.
Maz and I.
Returning to the parking lot that was almost empty when we started out this morning. You’d think the hill was open!
