Skiing in Colorado

After the blizzard delay, we arrived in Colorado on Monday evening, which meant that we had to move our ski lessons to Tuesday...my birthday! I was happy to see it was snowing that morning and excited to get out there and learn something new as I turned 31.

I was a bit nervous when we began but was quickly put at ease. I highly recommend lessons to anyone that has never skied before - especially if you're nervous! Looking back, it was probably a bit basic, but I felt confident enough to ride the lifts and navigate down the (green) slopes on my own after just a few short hours.

I had so much fun and was high on life when the day ended. I really felt as though I'd picked things up well and was excited to get back out there the next day. But first, cake.

My friends surprised me with a birthday cake and ice cream. They even lit 31 candles and sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was quite sweet.

The next day we headed back out to Copper Mountain to hit the slopes. Katie and I (the newbie skiers) stayed on the easiest runs in the morning to shake out our nerves.

After lunch we joined up with the guys and took a few harder runs with them. (Still greens, but steeper and higher up.)

We all had a great time and Kate & I got some good tips from the veterans. However, near the end of the day, I started feeling it. I was tired and started getting sloppy. I lost a ski over some rough snow and took a pretty good spill on a particularly fast part. I wasn't hurt, but it shook me up a bit and I was ready to turn in my skis for the day. I figured the more tired I got, the more likely I'd be to get hurt.

Luckily everyone else was also ready to wrap up, so we headed back to the condo and made a beeline to the hot tubs.

Nothing could have felt better.

Katie and I took a break from skiing on Thursday and spent the day eating and shopping. We hit up the outlets in Silverthorne and the cute town of Breckenridge. We lucked out with a beautiful day to walk around.

(Why did these boots not come home with us?!?!)

Friday was our final day on the slopes, and I'll pick up there in my next post. It's the one that ends in the emergency room...