Last man standing...

Was Blaine.


All of us except for him had an "experience". Judging from the next few pictures, I would say that Mike had it the worst.


Oddly enough, Mike grew up in Saudi Arabia but he's been skiing for about 20 years. His experience comes from when he lived in Colorado for college, where he was a ski instructor. Point is, he's got mad skills on the slopes. He tried doing this jump (thats him in the upper left corner):


...but unfortunately a guy got in his way at the last second, causing him to land on his shoulder. Which then led to getting escorted to a first aid station.


Poor guy. Fortunately it happened on the last day we were there, and even more fortunately it turned out that nothing was broken. It seemed like some ligaments were stretched, so he just needs to take it easy.


Moving on...Joey being sassy.






The following picture were taken right before my traumatic event.


While we were on the gondola heading to the top of the mountain, we met the two ladies on the right hand side of the picture below. They overheard us talking about me wanting to stick to the green slopes, while Joey and Blaine wanted to do more challenging black/blue slopes. They offered to guide me to the green trails and I obliged. That was by far the worst decision I have ever made.


We get off the gondola, and I part with my two new "friends" while Joey and Blaine go on to do their own thing. Well, a few minutes later we find out that green trail they were talking about is blocked off. Simply blocked off. This left us with 2 options: either a blue or black trail. For those of you who are not familiar with slope colors, these are pretty steep trails for intermediate/advanced skiers. Not designed for a Louisiana girl who is on her second ski trip ever.

I PANICKED!!! I knew it was going to be bad. My problem is I don't weave left and right when I am on a steep area. I go straight and wedge, which leads to really nasty, dangerous falls. The view from the top of those trails was the scariest thing I've ever seen. I wanted to walk, but they wouldn't let me. I wanted to get escorted down the mountain by ski patrol, but they wouldn't let me. I was trapped. Left with no option, but to try and get down without killing myself. After a fall that cause my ski to hit my lower spine, I lost it. My hands were shaking. I was sobbing. I wanted to quit.

Luckily, these 3 guys stopped at that moment. This one guy was like, just come sit next to me and talk. We hung out for about 10 minutes and took a breather. They then helped me climb down the really steep part and ski down the final part of our journey. When I got to the bottom, I threw my skis off and gave them the biggest bear hug. I tried to buy them lunch, but they wouldn't allow it.

Unfortunately, after this experience the green slopes were never the same. I would just get so anxious. I was paranoid that a wrong turn would lead me to another blue/black trail trap. Mike wanted to give me pointers, but mentally I was done.

On a happier note, look at the snowflakes!


Our "uni-bomber" picture :)


A really cool shot of Mike.


The boys.


And, the icicles hanging outside our lodge. :)


Joey had an experience on the double black mountains. Blaine and Mike had him doing tree runs, which is basically snowboarding through a thickly forested area. It's not organized, so your reflexes have to really be up to par. Joey, you could explain it better.

Go ahead. :)