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Tuesday the weather dawned cloudy with forecast of rain and snow. Donning beads in honor of Mardi Gras, we braved an early morning trek up the mountain, retracing the previous day's tour. By noon the snow had started, and with our energies fading, we headed to Gorronos. At the lower elevation, the snow turned into rain. Chucking our gear, we raced into the restaurant, grabbed our lunch, and headed up to the balcony seating area. Over the course of our meal, the gay boys poured in, and two from Dallas -- Scott and John -- joined us at our table. After lunch we braved one more run up the mountain over to Palmyra lift slopes, but the intemperate weather gave us all incentive to return to the condo for hot chocolate and relaxation by the gas fireplace. |
| Dave and Daniel show off their Mardi Gras beads |
| The restful pace of vacation kept us in the condo till about 8, when we ventured down to Telluride. We had delicious Asian fare, and ran into Elaine at the same restaurant. After dinner, we headed to Noir Bar, the designated after hours; the lack of a crowd plus the overly amplified live music caused us to make a hasty retreat to the Cosmopolitan where we capped off the night with Ken joining us for a drink. |
| We had good weather on the mountain on Wednesday -- partly cloudy and cooler. I started off the day learning how to snowboard! It was lots of fun but exhausting. John taught me the basics, and he was a patient teacher. By the end of the lesson, I was able to move across the slope and make basic turns without falling too often. :-) Nonetheless, it took me almost 90 minutes to make it down the bunny run, and I was a sweaty and sore mess by the time I reached the bottom. |
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| Daniel carves a path down the mountain |
| That evening was the Blue Ball Pool Party at the nearby Mountain Lodge. This turned out to be my favorite official event of the week: about 100 people, great food, beautiful setting in a log cabin styled resort, swimming pool and huge hot tub filled with dozens of almost naked men and women! As the course of the evening wore on, the crowd got friskier, with lots of beach balls thrown around, and everyone splashing around. We stayed till almost closing, chatting up with the many friends we met during the week, and making new friends, including Nick from NYC. |
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Thursday the day dawned sunny, and we headed over to Tracks, near the Gondola, for breakfast and to meet up with Dennis, Elaine, Ken, and Nick. We stayed together all morning, and most of us braved the Plunge, an aptly named black diamond slope. We had so much fun going braving the steep wall, that we went down it again and again!
After lunch at Gorronos, John and I headed back to the Mountain Village base and finished up the afternoon with more boarding lessons. This time I managed to get two runs under my belt, and also learned about leg muscles I never knew I had. I as sooo sore! Boarding was a fun experience, but I'll probably stick with skiing since it comes so easily |
| The whole gang |
| After skiing we joined the gay ski week crowd at Bistro Isabel, and with 25 people it was best attended apres-ski that week. We had a light dinner and napped before the White Powder Party. This event took place in a heated tent just outside the conference center. Brock played some good tunes, and most of the 200 people dancing got into the spirit wearing white. John and I were exhausted from the day's physical activities, so we headed home early, and Dave followed about an hour later. |
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| Nick Dave and Daniel |
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