i haven’t checked my email for a week. which may be the first time that’s happened since i got my unc email account in the fall of 98. (i’m frightened to check it.)

“you have 272 new messages.” (177—65%!—were spam)

there was no internet at the condo in killington, so i’ve not been able to tantalize you, dear reader, with tales of my first ski adventure—until now.

we drove to killington sunday night. bought groceries on the way. got a speeding ticket in vermont. arrived in the darkness. three or four inches of snow fall after we go to bed.

jane is my teacher on the first day. lesson one: take lift to top of bunny hill, ski down. i manage to drop one of my ski poles from the lift the first time up. oops. skiing is fun, kind of like rollerblading and ice skating put together. or kind of like the hockey stop (and repeat–indefinitely). i’m good at going fast downhill, and also occasionally at totally wiping out. wiping out hurts.

we did the bunny hill two or three times and decided it was time for some green circles (less difficult trails). killington has an amazing trail called “the great eastern” that takes almost a half an hour to go from top to bottom. by the end of the day i think we tried a short blue square trail (next level in difficulty) and went through one of the many “fusion zones” with jumps and other obstacles. by the second day we were doing all greens and blues, and by the third day, pretty much all blues and catching wicked air (read: six inches to a foot) at the terrain park.

each night we took advantage of the fireplace and started a fire before cooking dinner. we made a stellar chili the first night and spaghetti the next, incorporating any leftovers into the next morning’s breakfast. the condo complex also had an activity center which we used after our last day of skiing (after having already checked out) to soak in the hot tub and shower for the ride home–this time judiciously following the speed limit.

Note: These photos originally appeared in my photo galleries.