One Week, and Counting

Is it possible that it could really look like this??

So...I guess this thing is happening. At some point, over this weekend, I will bring up the suitcase and start packing. it all seems so surreal. I have so much donated gear from friends - from helmets to a knockoff Go Pro -  so many semi-necessary purchased items - from ski socks to Gu - that I hope that it will all fit in my suitcase and carry-on.

I have been spending so much time scouring videos of Crested Butte, linking over to Telluride, to Steamboat, to Jackson Hole....and I've lost way more sleep than I should have on worrying about my rental car experience, to the five hour drive from Denver, including the perilous Monarch Pass...that before I know it, I will have to actually do it, and live it, then leave it, forever. Oh good. Something else to get anxious over.  I intend to leave a couple days worth of lesson plans, just in case.

Looks like our weather will be excellent for everything but powder skiing: 37 and sun on Saturday, a little snow overnight, followed by 30 and partial clouds on Saturday.

Questions: what will I do after the lifts close at 4? I haven't given this hardly any thought, and it will be more than half my time, there.  Sure, I've worried about altitude sickness, and how I shouldn't party due to my brain exploding, but not of the fun I could have, apres ski. Maybe I should open myself to that possibility.

Will I be able to ski anything other than the greens and blues. Should I dare try an "Extremes with Ease" lesson? Giving me a guided tour of the most coveted extreme terrain in the country? (Apparently, they test you on the "horseshoe" run. If you can link turns on that, they'll take you up top. Will have to try on Saturday.)

Do I try to build in time to get a half day in at CB or Monarch on Monday?? That even sounds like pushing it to me, but then again....savor every second...

Honestly, I want to stand on the top of the mountain, and have a staggering view, and then make some big turns among the aspens, watching the scenery as I go downhill. Then, relax on some mid-mountain restaurant / bar, and soak in more scenery, and eat and drink exquisitely. So much of my love of skiing is simply to be active in a beautiful, wild surrounding. I think I will be able to accomplish that. Really, so much of the satisfaction will be visual, more than physical.

I have 135 squats to get to my goal in six days. I think I can do that in two days, if I try. I really am liking this combination of swimming and squats. Baseball tomorrow. If I can get some good work done, paper-grading wise, I may do more swimming. Goal is to finish training Wednesday. Take Thursday off, and travel Friday.

Wow. It's all coming so soon...