Oh the weather outside is frightful... okay, not really. It is Southern California, where the weather is ALWAYS 75 and sunny!
I took Paul up to Big Bear this last weekend for a Birthday getaway, but who am I kidding- I really wanted to go too! When I suggested going someplace for his birthday, I brought up the idea of going on a scuba trip to Mexico, or a snow trip to Washington, but Paul said he would be interested in going to Big Bear... just like old times. We had not yet braved the trip to snow in SoCal, so I had never even been to Big Bear. While trying to make arrangements online with no real guidelines, I found that Big Bear is just a bunch of cabins you can rent from individuals. Some of which are tacky and expensive. I was just beginning to think Big Bear was not my kind of place (where was the Hilton?) when I found a fun Jacuzzi cabin. There are actually plenty of great places I wanted to try- a B&B (booked for the MLK weekend) other cabins (too big to rent for two people), and so on.
I ordered snow chains for my car (why I did not think to do this for Paul's car, I do not know- he is the one with the heated seats!) I made cabin arrangements, printed out directions, packed food, dug out all the winter gear (or as much as I could find) and we were off! We got up there on Thursday night, just in time to check in and grab dinner. I picked out a place called Sweet Basil, which was a great Italian restaurant. They were out of the Wild Mushroom Ratatouille, which I was excited about trying, but at least they had some Ahi tuna! Yumm-o. We picked up some wood for the fire and tried out the jacuzzi and called it a night, well, after watching some BSG of course!
We meant to wake up early on Friday, but the alarm went off and neither of us tore out of bed. So we finally got to the slopes around 9:30, but the park had been open for an hour already. Paul and I had been debating what to do- I definitely wanted lessons no matter what we did, skiing or snowboarding. Paul had tried snowboarding before but wasn't enthused about continuing that. I had only tried snowboarding and had gone a few times. It was going to be hard, according to Paul, to hang out together if we were doing different activities, so I decided to try skiing. Only, since I had never been on skis, it wasn't like we would be spending time in a Ski 101 class together. I took the morning 2 hour class, which taught me how to get into skis, out of them, how to fall, and how to move and brake. Out of five people, I had the least difficulty and didn't fall once. Paul was off warming up and taking pictures of me being goofy. We took a break for lunch and met at the Ski House. In the afternoon, Paul and I both took the advanced class, but were divided into sections according to skill level. I managed to make it to a level 2 (out of 4). The afternoon class was a little more challenging and I was the worst one in that class. We learned how to link turns and get away from snow plowing by carving and slipping on the slope. I had trouble trusting leaning on my right turn (left leg) and kept falling when I got any real speed up. All in all though, we were good enough to take the lift to the top of the mountain and run a green hill (designated as low intermediate). I only fell a total of a dozen times that day, so not bad! I think my first few days on the snowboard, I was on the snow half the day.
We retired for the evening after running the beginner slopes a few times together. Paul, despite having his first ever ski lesson that day, is really great on skis and was able to help me figure out some of the finer points of turning and shifting my weight to do so. And that was only my first day on skis!
We ate at a place I had picked out called Captain's Anchorage (steak and seafood), which I thought we would need after skiing all day. It was fun- I got two appetizers, steamed artichoke and some clams. It was all great. We finished the day off with some more BSG, hoping to catch the premier of season 4.5 (the first of the last 10 episodes), but since we were determined to hit the slopes at opening on Saturday, we were fast asleep by 10 pm.
The start of the memorial day weekend at Snow Summit:
When we rented our skis on Thursday, the check in ladies told us to be there at the crack of dawn on Saturday to fight the smallest of the day's lines. We were in the parking lot unloading at 7:30 am (did I finally find something that gets Paul outta bed at the crack of dawn?) Paul had wisely bought the lift tickets the night before, so all we had to do was walk onto the slopes and get on a lift. There were already lines out the wazoo at 7:30 and the park didn't even open until 8am.
I suggested we head straight up to the Summit Run, which starts at the top of Chair 1. We did the Summit Run, a green slope that is a mile long and ends at the base of the mountain at Chair 2. We took that chair up tot he top and headed to the right to get to the fun family zone. This is an area meant for beginners and families that includes flat areas on one side and small moguls on the other side. There are even a few runs that are just green runs. We spent most of our day on that part of the mountain and mainly avoided crowds and lines. There were even less crowded areas, but we tried them and I got scared because the hill looked too steep. (I made Paul walk uphill in skis to get to a green area.)
We ate lunch at the top of the summit. They had two different eateries up there and a great view out back!
Paul spent the day following me and helping me out, and by the end of the day, I think I was doing fairly well. I wasn't falling as much, and I was doing better on carving my turns instead of snowplowing them. I even got up some good speed. Look ma, I am even wearing my helmet!
I took Paul up to Big Bear this last weekend for a Birthday getaway, but who am I kidding- I really wanted to go too! When I suggested going someplace for his birthday, I brought up the idea of going on a scuba trip to Mexico, or a snow trip to Washington, but Paul said he would be interested in going to Big Bear... just like old times. We had not yet braved the trip to snow in SoCal, so I had never even been to Big Bear. While trying to make arrangements online with no real guidelines, I found that Big Bear is just a bunch of cabins you can rent from individuals. Some of which are tacky and expensive. I was just beginning to think Big Bear was not my kind of place (where was the Hilton?) when I found a fun Jacuzzi cabin. There are actually plenty of great places I wanted to try- a B&B (booked for the MLK weekend) other cabins (too big to rent for two people), and so on.
I ordered snow chains for my car (why I did not think to do this for Paul's car, I do not know- he is the one with the heated seats!) I made cabin arrangements, printed out directions, packed food, dug out all the winter gear (or as much as I could find) and we were off! We got up there on Thursday night, just in time to check in and grab dinner. I picked out a place called Sweet Basil, which was a great Italian restaurant. They were out of the Wild Mushroom Ratatouille, which I was excited about trying, but at least they had some Ahi tuna! Yumm-o. We picked up some wood for the fire and tried out the jacuzzi and called it a night, well, after watching some BSG of course!
We meant to wake up early on Friday, but the alarm went off and neither of us tore out of bed. So we finally got to the slopes around 9:30, but the park had been open for an hour already. Paul and I had been debating what to do- I definitely wanted lessons no matter what we did, skiing or snowboarding. Paul had tried snowboarding before but wasn't enthused about continuing that. I had only tried snowboarding and had gone a few times. It was going to be hard, according to Paul, to hang out together if we were doing different activities, so I decided to try skiing. Only, since I had never been on skis, it wasn't like we would be spending time in a Ski 101 class together. I took the morning 2 hour class, which taught me how to get into skis, out of them, how to fall, and how to move and brake. Out of five people, I had the least difficulty and didn't fall once. Paul was off warming up and taking pictures of me being goofy. We took a break for lunch and met at the Ski House. In the afternoon, Paul and I both took the advanced class, but were divided into sections according to skill level. I managed to make it to a level 2 (out of 4). The afternoon class was a little more challenging and I was the worst one in that class. We learned how to link turns and get away from snow plowing by carving and slipping on the slope. I had trouble trusting leaning on my right turn (left leg) and kept falling when I got any real speed up. All in all though, we were good enough to take the lift to the top of the mountain and run a green hill (designated as low intermediate). I only fell a total of a dozen times that day, so not bad! I think my first few days on the snowboard, I was on the snow half the day.
We retired for the evening after running the beginner slopes a few times together. Paul, despite having his first ever ski lesson that day, is really great on skis and was able to help me figure out some of the finer points of turning and shifting my weight to do so. And that was only my first day on skis!
We ate at a place I had picked out called Captain's Anchorage (steak and seafood), which I thought we would need after skiing all day. It was fun- I got two appetizers, steamed artichoke and some clams. It was all great. We finished the day off with some more BSG, hoping to catch the premier of season 4.5 (the first of the last 10 episodes), but since we were determined to hit the slopes at opening on Saturday, we were fast asleep by 10 pm.
The start of the memorial day weekend at Snow Summit:
When we rented our skis on Thursday, the check in ladies told us to be there at the crack of dawn on Saturday to fight the smallest of the day's lines. We were in the parking lot unloading at 7:30 am (did I finally find something that gets Paul outta bed at the crack of dawn?) Paul had wisely bought the lift tickets the night before, so all we had to do was walk onto the slopes and get on a lift. There were already lines out the wazoo at 7:30 and the park didn't even open until 8am.
I suggested we head straight up to the Summit Run, which starts at the top of Chair 1. We did the Summit Run, a green slope that is a mile long and ends at the base of the mountain at Chair 2. We took that chair up tot he top and headed to the right to get to the fun family zone. This is an area meant for beginners and families that includes flat areas on one side and small moguls on the other side. There are even a few runs that are just green runs. We spent most of our day on that part of the mountain and mainly avoided crowds and lines. There were even less crowded areas, but we tried them and I got scared because the hill looked too steep. (I made Paul walk uphill in skis to get to a green area.)
We ate lunch at the top of the summit. They had two different eateries up there and a great view out back!
Paul spent the day following me and helping me out, and by the end of the day, I think I was doing fairly well. I wasn't falling as much, and I was doing better on carving my turns instead of snowplowing them. I even got up some good speed. Look ma, I am even wearing my helmet!
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