Ski Day 2 of 2024! Me, Emma, and Gen met in the middle at Waterville Valley. Gen and I flirted with going last week, but decided we should have a day with Emma first (plus, we have four days of skiing coming up over break). We got to the parking area around 9:30am, and gearing up at the car, redeeming our Indy passes, using the bathroom, and bracing for impact, we started skiing around 10:15am. Our day was basically split into two parts: three runs on Green Peak and three runs off Tecumseh.
Run 1
This was the longest I've taken to get up and down a run - 41 minutes total! We took the Green Peak Triple up, which was a beautiful but long ride, did a quick lesson up at the top, and then started our descent. Chandler's Way to Burbon Street to Baseway was listed as the easiest way down Green Peak, so that was our goal! We took many stops for tips and for Gen to catch up, but then things got... different. Signage wasn't too clear, the terrain was... different. Emma had a look on her face - I said "you don't know where we are do you?" and she went "hehe nope." Turns out we were on the tail end of Wayne Wong Way - a black. It was no more than 100ft of steep, but my god was it terrifying! I somehow made it down without falling, but my heart was beating out of my chest - oof! Once we were back on the green trails all was fine, but AH. Terrifying. Garmin recorded 1.17 miles.
Run 2
Run 2 went more to plan - we went up the Green Peak Triple and made our way down, making the correct turn this time, following the easiest route the whole way. The lap was 28 minutes long, which was much more reasonable. I realize I haven't done runs this long before, so my legs were definitely feeling the wear and tear. 0.89 miles.
Run 3
Now that we were feeling good on this lap, Emma invited us to hit the blue run "Stillness" as a test to see if we could handle going to the top of the mountain for lunch. Thankfully, this blue wasn't that bad, and I think starting with that preview of a black helped make everything seem less awful. We got down relatively pain-free, and once at the bottom we scootched over to the Tecumseh Express! 0.97 miles and 29 minutes.
Run 4
Technically our longest run - we took the 6-Pack Tecumseh Express to the Schwendi Hutte for lunch - highly recommend just for the novelty (and a mid-day drink). I also had a small bathroom emergency up here - thank GOD there was a a bathroom. From here our plan was to follow the easiest route down from Tecumseh, and then switch over to the greens. This involved following Oblivion to Chandlers Way to Burbon Street etc. Emma was cruel and didn't give us time to stare down the slope after lunch and just went, which turns out was for the better becuase I would have overthinked it hard. The hardest part of this run was the headwall right when Oblivion makes a sharp turn - I got air! Terrifying. The rest of the run was very fine, and I commented to Emma that I was started to have fun... 1.42 miles, 27 minutes.
Run 5
This time, our plan was to follow the full "easiest route down Tecumseh" route (in hindsight we might have merged routes again here, not sure). Oblivion to Upper Valley Run to Stillness and down. All was well here until near the end when I decided to run my mouth! Emma and I were waiting for Gen to catch up and we were talking about turns, and I mentioned something like "well I haven't even fallen yet today so I can take some more risks." Emma gave me the look, and no more than three seconds after I fell. Lesson learned! 1.64 miles, 25 minutes.
Run 6
The final run! Plan was to do a full repeat of last time, and it basically was! After the headwall on Oblivion, Emma and I were waiting for Gen, and some human, aged somewhere between 12-26, dressed in all pink SCREAMED "DONT TAKE UP THE ENTIRE F*CKING TRAIL," followed by Gen doing slow, wide turns in full pizza. If I had connected that pink was yelling at Gen I would have shouted back "SHE'S LEARNING" (a callback to an experience I had at Nashoba last year), but it was too late for that. On the way down I got ahead of Gen and Emma, naturally wiped out (in my defense, by this point the snow was wet and heavy!). I was putting my second ski back on RIGHT when Emma reappeared cackling at me. I was so close! Oh well.
Our day ended with some exploring of the lodge and a one-drink apres - we sat outside to soak up the sun. We took the parking lot trolley back to the car, and made our way home!
Next up is mine and Gen's vacation to Rumford, ME. Our plan is to ski Saddleback on Saturday, Black Mountain of Maine on Sunday, Saddleback on Monday, and Black Mountain again Tuesday morning. We'll see how it all goes!
End of Day Stats: 6 Runs, 7.51 miles, 7,986 feet, 23.7 mph max, 0:46:32 skiing, 3:39:28 elapsed
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