a first time for everything

My name is Maren. I lived in Utah for 25 years and I've never been skiing. 

There. I said it. 

Call me crazy. Tell me how ridiculous I am for having the best snow on earth in my backyard and not taking advantage. Explain to me that your family spent their winter vacations traveling to Utah to ski and you can't believe I've never done it. 

Believe me, in the past 31 years, I've heard it all. And then some.

But I just never had the desire - the desire to pay for all the equipment or the lift pass or the transportation to the resort. Between a part time job, school and extra-curricular activities, I didn't feel like I had the time either. And so I never went. 

But guess what!? Neither did Michelle. She grew up in Utah too. And her husband skis pretty much any day he can. So does her seven year old son. And her three year old son is jumping on the bandwagon. 

So, crazy Michelle and crazy Maren were feeling a bit adventurous. They, albeit broke, also felt that the "learn to ski" promotion going on at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont ($29 for a beginners lesson, a lift pass and full rental) was just too good to pass up. So, we packed our bags and took a day trip. Luckily, we had willing husbands to watch the kids. 

We couldn't have asked for better weather, there was just one other girl in our "class" so we each got a lot of attention, and our teacher was great. 

My favorite quote of the day was, "Pretend like there is a little birdie in your hands - keep the bird alive. KEEP THE BIRD ALIVE!" Apparently I have a tendency to get a bit tense. Who knew?!

But, after two hours and some basic instruction, we hit the magic carpet. And then we hit it again. And again. And then I rode the chair lift. And then I did it again. And again. 

And guess what? I liked it. I really liked it. And I wasn't half bad!

So I guess I have to update my previous statement:

My name is Maren and I like to ski.

Next time I'm in Utah in the winter, I'll have to test out the snow. I'll let you know if it's truly the best.

P.S. A note to East Coasters: When someone from Utah refers to the resort as Alta (Al-tuh), please don't correct them by saying Ahl-tuh. We promise we know what we're talking about.