my opening day

My first day back on skis was Saturday, Alta's second day open, and wouldn't you know it - I overslept!  B cuddled up with me and so I didn't get out of bed until 8:15 a.m. ... and still managed to get up to Alta before  they started loading the lift.  My secret: being smart enough to lay out all my ski gear the night before.  I was a little apprehensive about putting my new boots on for the first time.  H hadn't had a great first day with his, although they seemed to get better as the day wore on, so I was nervous that my feet would hurt too.  They didn't.  I still haven't quite gotten the buckle settings to where they should be but once I do, I think these boots will be fine.  Also, H didn't have quite as rough a time with his today, so hopefully they'll keep getting more comfortable the more he wears them.

We had variable, early season conditions for sure: temperatures in the 30s, flat light and tough visibility due to the clouds that settled down into the mountains and the all-day snowfall.  That precipitation was variable too: sleeting at Collins base, turning to graupel halfway up the chair, turning to small flakes up top.  The visibility was challenging for me on my first day back out: I'm not an intuitive skier so when I can't see what I'm skiing on, I get nervous.  Luckily the snow was pretty soft and the new stuff that was falling only made the conditions better as the day wore on.

Snow atop Collins!  Yay!

We skied until 1 p.m., at which point my legs were pointedly telling me that I've been slacking off at the gym for the last two weeks.  We changed our boots at the truck and then went back to the little coffee shop/bar on the ground floor of the Goldminer's Daughter lodge.  (One of these days we'll go up to the actual bar upstairs, but I wasn't feeling it today.)  There we each had an Alta 75th Anniversary Ale - available on tap or in bottles up at Alta - and toasted getting back on the hill.