Skiing with Glen

My friend Glen is a retired co-worker that I used to ski with every year.   He's a very "old school" skier.  Glen is the guy you see on the slope that still has long straight skis.  But even with those skinny boards, he's a dynamite skier.

Glen, ready to make some turns

The last couple of years, Glen's been heavy into running and I haven't had the opportunity to ski with him.   Right after Christmas, Glen emailed me with the news that "Mrs. Claus" had brought him new skis.  They were short, fat, shaped skis.  I told Glen I was up on the mountain every Thursday, and invited him to join me and try them out.

I'm so happy I'm not at work!

Glen was training for a marathon scheduled in early February.  After he finished his race (and qualified for Boston, I might add!)  it was time to give the new skis a spin.  Glen emailed me that he was planning to come up skiing the following Thursday, and would I be interested in joining him?  I was thrilled to get a chance to ski and catch up with an old co-worker and friend.

Snow-flocked tree

We took separate buses up to Meadows and met up at the lift.  I ooh'd and aah'd over Glen's new skis.  After skiing on straight skis for so long, Glen wasn't sure what to expect.  I told him it would only take two runs to be sold.  Then he'd be turning his old straight skis into lawn furniture.

Another blue sky day on the Hood

It was a beautiful blue-sky day, but the temps were cold enough to keep the snow powdery. Perfect day!  We headed up to the top of the Cascade lift, for a couple of great trips down.  As I predicted, after two runs, Glen was adjusting to his new skis and enjoying making effortless turns.

Glen in Heather Canyon

Heather Canyon was open, from top to bottom.  This was the first day upper Heather had been open after the last storm, so we decided to check it out.  Even though it was pretty tracked out by the time we got there, we were able to find a couple of small powder stashes in Silver Bowl.  The snow was excellent, and we had a wonderful trip down the canyon.

Lookin' down Heather Canyon

We followed the bottom of Heather Canyon, down the runout and to the chair.  The bottom was pretty chewed up, but Glen was impressed by how well his new skis performed in the crud.

Glen skiing down Upper Elevator

After lunch, I wanted to explore a couple of runs off of Cascade.  I hadn't skied Upper Elevator in a long time, and conditions looked to be good to try it today.  Of course, Glen was game to check it out.  It was a little icy at the bottom, but the views were good at the top, and the snow was nice in between!

Is he a happy guy or what?

I think you can see by the size of his smile that someone really likes his new skis.  I don't think Glen will be using his old straight skis anymore!

Yeah, I'm in my happy place too

And I was a pretty happy camper too.  What an awesome day - nice weather and good snow.  No lift lines.  And a great skiing partner.

Mt. Hood trying to hide behind the clouds

It was great to catch up with Glen and see him discover a new way of skiing.  Of course, he's such a good skier already, with the new skis, he'll be unstoppable!  Hope I can keep up with him.

I've had the opportunity to ski with a lot of wonderful people this winter.  I'm blessed to have so many good ski friends.

:)