The expert skier Mel tries snowboarding for a change in Crested Butte
We’re in family ski trip mode. Everyone having a big bacon and eggs breakfast in pajamas. A lot of teasing is afoot. Thirteen year old Eva decides she’ll ski with us rather than go to ski school. We’re all impressed at how well she skis.
There are seven of us — two on snowboards. I’m impressed that we manage to stay together — or at least meet up at the lifts. Thank goodness for cell phones! Thank goodness for sunshine! At one point, it’s snowing — and it’s sunny. It’s the kind of day you are glad to be alive, healthy ad with those you love most.
We stop for a calzone and soup at the Brown Labrador pub in the base area — a locals’ hang out. We sit outside at picnic tables in the sun and then head back up the mountain.
Mel proposed going to the headwall — some of Crested Butte’s famous extreme terrain. “You can do it, mom” she says. I know I can but I’m still not feeling 100 per cent and I realize I don’t have to prove anything to anybody. That is a liberating feeling! I tell them to go on, that Lauren and i will head down the mountain. It’s just 2 p.m. but I’ve had enough for one day. Since Lauren is quitting, Mel decided to try Lauren’s snowboard. She has a blast!
The hot tub beckons. Tomorrow at 5:45 a.m. the shuttle bus returns to take us back to the Gunnison Airport and home.