Greetings from Winter Park

Day 1:

We made it to Winter Park yesterday after a short flight to Denver. The drive to Winter Park was beautiful with steep mountain passes and even a bit of snow covered roads. Since we couldn't get into our condo until around 4 pm, we drove around the towns of Winter Park and Fraser (seriously took about 5 minutes to drive through both). The best part of our wandering was when we stopped at the grocery store to get some supplies. And I got carded for the beer. So we asked if Brad looked old enough to buy alcohol, and the cashier said she thought he was at least 36!!!! He wasn't too happy about that, but I was laughing. Finally made it to our condo and got settled in. We both were feeling a bit of altitude sickness with horrible headaches, but that wasn't going to stop us from our first night of activities......SNOW BIKES. After the slopes had cleared off the riders and the sun had set, we strapped on our classy reflective vests and headlamps and headed to the top of the mountain. It was pitch black with an overcast sky and a heavy snow starting to fall, and add in some strong winds and needless to say we weren't warm and cozy. At the summit, it was nearly impossible to see anything, so you followed the reflective vest of the person in front of you. We both were ready to get down the mountain due to being cold and the blowing snow in your face. As we progressed down the mountain, we realized how much fun we were having (and it got warmer and less wind down the mountain). We had enough fun that we went for a second run. We have a couple of pictures but unfortunately we aren't able to load Brad's memory card on my computer. So I'll add the pics when we return. 

Day 2: 

Woke up early this morning to hit our first day on the slopes. I was greeted with a lovely wind burn on my face from the evening before. My schedule was the full day Burton Learn to Ride class. Brad was going to hit the slopes off the bat and "shake off the rust". 

Shot of the slopes at the base. 

Brad and I (sorry for the squinting)

Beginning of class. We had 3 people (all girls) in our class so we were able to really learn alot and at a quick pace. 

Bunny slopes for the morning. I swear these little kids were showing us up!
Brad managed to have a good morning on his own. He started on some greens and did a few blues. We met up for lunch and relaxed back in our condo (across the street from the slopes). In the afternoon, my class headed up the mountain to try real runs. I was doing pretty well and was getting down my turns pretty easily and felt very comfortable. Then.... disaster struck. I took as nasty fall and hit my head, but that wasn't what was hurting after the fall. I managed to jam my right wrist pretty bad, so much so that putting any weight on it or moving it was (and still is) very painful. I managed to make it down the mountain, but not without several more falls to increase my wrist pain and make me lose my confidence. Brad had a much better afternoon than me, making it up to Mary Jane peak and taking a long trail down the mountain. He even managed to go down a mogul trail after trying to follow some other snowboarders. So, all in all, our first day was awesome. I hoping the wrist gets better before Monday when I give snowboarding another try.