Category: skiing

At the end of January my friend Theresa posted on instagram about an all-ladies ski clinic she was coaching at the beginning of March.  I’ve been wanting more lessons, especially with a lady instructor, and so immediately looked into it.  I couldn’t believe it when I realized it was the weekend after Steel Magnolias closed!  I signed up immediately – well almost, immediately.  It was a little pricey, but Daryl encouraged me to treat myself as a  congratulatory gift for getting a staff position at the theatre.

The clinic, Step It Up and Steeps Clinic with Rippin’ Chix, was at Crystal Mountain Resort.  I’d been there once, on a backcountry ski trip last spring, so I was really excited to ski two days in a row and stay on mountain at the Alpine Inn.

As luck would have it, Theresa was my instructor at the clinic!  I was nervous I was in over my head, but being in a small group (I think there were six of us) with someone I know definitely helped calm my anxiety.  And frankly, having people I didn’t know in my group helped me ski lines I wouldn’t’ve in the past.

The first day was a beautiful bluebird day.  I, unsurprisingly, got a sunburn (and then spent way too much for the tiniest bottle of sunscreen at the on mountain lodge).

I decided to sit out the last run or two the group took – my legs were feeling really fatigued and decided it was smartest to listen to my body than try to ski more and get frustrated and/or hurt.

It snowed overnight, so we got some fresh pow for day two.  I was excited to see what we were going to tackle!  Theresa skis at Crystal often, so she knows all the good power stashes.  We took some fun traverses to the top of some steep couloirs.

Definitely the steepest lines I’ve ever skied!

I’m really proud of the way I skied at this clinic.  I pushed myself and I actually fell!  Daryl has thought for a long time that I’d be a better skier if I fell more often, but I definitely ski like I’m afraid of falling.  I blame it on my good balance from dance and my fear of breaking myself because of dance.

I fell five or six times, including losing my skis several times.    Because I don’t have breaks on my skis (these beauties have super light G3 Ion LT 12 bindings with leashes), when I popped out of my binding, the ski came down the mountain with me, attached to my boot.  I clearly slide down the mountain on them a couple of times.  Ouch!

Days after this clinic, everything started shutting down due to COVID-19.  Less than a week later, I started working from home.  And, I think this was the last clinic Rippin Chix had for the season.  I’m so glad I got to take this one!  I’m already looking forward to skiing with those badass ladies next year (I hope!).

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the Duwamish and Puget Sound Salish.

I was originally supposed to have rehearsal on Saturday of our Anniversary weekend, but it was changed at the last minute, so we were able to get away for a little 11th Anniversary Trip to Stevens Pass.

We woke up early and made it to Stevens early enough to park in the top lot.  Since we were there, we napped in the car for a couple hours and hit the slopes around 10am.  So much pow!

Both times we returned to the car (lunch and once we were done for the day), Betsey was covered in snow.  It just kept falling!  We snagged fresh pockets of pow all day long and had such a blast.

Caving friends from Idaho were also in the area for the weekend and invited us to stay with them at an AirBnb in Leavenworth.  It was very appropriately called the C+A+V+E.  We had a really lovely evening talking with friends and soaking in the hot tub.

The next morning as we were all leaving, we wished Stephen, Cody, and Brittany a safe, long drive home.  Usually when we’re together they have the short drive and us the long one, but this time they had a 7+ hour drive home to Boise while we were only two hours from home.

We regretted being smug about 30 miles later when the traffic was stopped on Stevens Pass.  After sitting stopped for a couple minutes, we decided to try to get to the parking lot at the pass.  We successfully made it and headed into the lodge to pass the time.  We got chili at one of the bars and watched as the pass opened and closed several different times.  We moved to a different bar that had football on and debated our options.  Eventually the Seahawks game started and we decided to wait it out.

Around the same time the disappointing game ended, the highway opened back up (“for real” this time).  We got back to the car and got in line to head down the hill.

We didn’t make it very far.  We would move forward for a couple miles, then stop.  There was traffic coming toward us, but we realized it was cars in front of us turning around.  When we were about 3 miles from Skykomish, State Troopers officially started turning people around, but by that point Blewett Pass and Snoqualmie Pass (the other route home) were also closed.  We decided to keep inching forward towards home instead of turning around.

We spent part of the night parked along the highway in a stretch where there weren’t any trees that could fall on us (we passed a car that was pretty smashed from a tree limb that fell).  Around 3am we decided to start traveling toward Skykomish again.  We waited in the Forest Service parking lot for about an hour while they cleared trees off the railroad (both entrances to Skykomish were blocked by a train).

We eventually made it to Skykomish and joined the approximately 300 other people also stranded there on the way home.

In the morning we ordered (double!) breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which was very thankfully open and able to make food with their generator (Skykomish was without power for nearly two weeks around this storm).  We stocked up on the essentials for the rest of the trip home and spent some time exploring the airport area while waiting to leave.

They were caravaning cars west out of Skykomish.  We snagged second in line for this one!  There were so many trees down on the highway, it’s no surprise they closed it.  I think it was several days before it was opened for travel again.

I finally believed we’d actually make it home when we reached the beginning of the traffic heading east!  I think we finally made it home 28 hours after leaving Leavenworth.  (And the joke was definitely on us – Stephen, Cody, and Britt made it home almost 24 hours before we did!)  At least we’re not likely to forget what we did for this anniversary for a long time.

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the sdukʷalbixʷ (Snoqualmie), Tulalip, np̓əšqʷáw̓səxʷ (Wenatchi), and Yakama.

The snow seemed to be melting fast at the beginning of June, so we knew we had to take advantage of Daryl’s birthday being gorgeous and get to the snow as soon as possible.  Before I left coffee job D asked if I wanted to head to Chinook Pass for an evening ski.  My answer was of course “ABSOLUTELY!”  He got all our stuff together (our gear room has gotten more organized over the years, though no where near as beautifully as this one featured in the summer Moutaineer magazine) and we were able to head south moments after I got home from work.

We’ve been to Naches Pass several times to ski, but this time we tried a slightly different route up (really, the route changes all season long as the snow melts out).  This slope continued like this for a while, so when I got up to Daryl and Riley, we took our skis off and continued hoofing it up.

One of my favorite views of my favorite mountain.

Riley is getting better and better at being a ski deg on every trip.  He waited (fairly) patiently here while we switched over to ski mode, then he ran ran ran to beat us both down the hill.

No photos from the ski down, aside from this fun down climb.  We hooped and hollered our way down the snow, as usual, and Daryl skied all the way back to the car (I lost momentum a couple yards short).

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the Yakama.

Back in May, our friend Danielle invited us to go backcountry skiing at Crystal Mountain.  It was my first time at Crystal and I’m excited to explore more of the terrain once the snow starts to fly again.

Such a gorgeous day to be skiing up hill!  Not too hot, but warm enough to not need extra layers.

We skinned up to the Summit House and took a nice break on the patio.  We looked like lizards, splayed out on the patio, soaking up the sun.  A perfect picnic spot!

Skiing down required a bit of navigating thru narrow patched of connected snow.  When I got to the bottom of this, I looked up and couldn’t believe it.  I am so proud of how much more confident I am on skis than I used to be.  Yes, getting down this took me long than it took everyone else on the trip, but years ago it wouldn’t taken me at least an hour – and I definitely would’ve cried.

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the Duwamish and Puget Sound Salish.

A week after Sparkle Fairy closed, I started tech for We Will Not Be Silent at Taproot Theatre.  I had St. Patrick’s Day off from rehearsal, so we took advantage and hit the snow.

We met Danielle at the Bellevue Park n Ride, then headed to Blewett Pass, about 2 hours east of Seattle.  We got to the parking lot, watched a snowmobile fall off a truck ramp, then got our gear together to head up.

There was a couple with a dog we met up with from time to time on our way up.  Riley and their pup loved running and playing in the snow together!

We skied up to just below Diamond Head before taking a break and heading down.  It was so beautiful!

Riley always steals first descent lines and loves to race Daryl down the mountain.  He’s such a great deg.

This trip was definitely Type 2 Fun for me.  I struggled on the last bit going up, with snow sticking to my skins, leaving me unable to find purchase on a steep section in the trees.  I was pretty miserable for a while.  Once we started heading down, and especially once we got to mellow terrain lower down, I started having fun again.  Never a bad day on skis – but this was definitely not immediate fun.

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the Yakama and Wenatchi.

In February I stage managed Sparkle Fairy’s School for Formerly Vile Villains at SecondStory Rep.  I had matinees, which opened up evenings for us to ski at Snoqualmie Pass.  I was working in Redmond, so Daryl and I would meet at the Bellevue Park n Ride, then head up the hill.

We first went night skiing on February 23rd and the snow was better than we expected.  Not super icy, some powder pockets hiding on the edges.  We had a blast!

Because we had such a great time, we decided to go again on March 4th.  The snow was icy and it was windy.  We skied three runs, then stopped at the bar to get a beer and some food.  Since we only paid $25 for our tickets, we decided less than $10 a run was good enough for us and decided to call it a night.

This Seattle classic is conveniently located between most adventures and our house.  Unloading the vehicle and taking a shower is always best done after two plain cheeseburgers and a strawberry shake.

Today’s adventure took place on land stolen from the Duwamish, Tulalip, and Puget Sound Salish.