Backside Pivot Slips

This is not on my PSIA Level 2 exam, but is very cool.  Why do I always want to do everything backwards?  Must be the dancer in me.  This is what I'll be doing today!

xoxo,
ski girl

Pivot Slips

A new task on my upcoming PSIA Level 2 ski exam.  I'll be pivot slipping all over the place this weekend.  You?

xoxo,

ski girl

I heart My Life Outdoors

Today I'm sending a little blog love to Steven over at My Life Outdoors!  Why do I love this blog?

1. This is totally self-serving, but My Life Outdoors and Liftopia had a giveaway contest and I won!!!!!  A $50.00 gift card for Liftopia is exactly what this ski girl needs!

2. Who knew that Texas was so cool?  I know that Lance lives and trains there so it's got to  be awesome.  Steven makes it seem pretty appealing, too.

3.  He skis!

4.  It's about a lot more than Texas.  This guy travels to some cool places and he writes about his experiences, beautifully.  Makes me want to get outside and enjoy My Life Outdoors.

xoxo,

ski girl

The Pow is back at Mt. Hood Meadows!

I need to ski!

xoxo,
ski girl

Just say no to Plastic!

Just say no to plastic.  ski like a girl supports Green Sangha.

The facts from Green Sangha

Shoppers worldwide are using 500 billion to one trillion single-use plastic bags per year.
This translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe, or 150 bags a year for every person on earth.  And the number is rising.

“But plastic bags are so convenient!”
It depends on how far you are looking.  A plastic bag may be convenient for a minute or two when you carry something out of the store, but consider these costs:

• Plastic bags are made from a non-renewable resource: oil!
  An estimated 3 million barrels of oil are required to produce the 19 billion plastic bags used annually in California.
• Greenhouse gas emissions
  Plastic manufacturing’s air pollution contributes greatly to global “weirding” (extreme weather of all sorts) we are experiencing is the result.
• Non-biodegradable
  Plastic is food for no one.  It never completely breaks down.
• Litter
  We see bags hanging on trees, along the roadside, slipping down the storm drain, and floating in the ocean.  Even when we do put them in the garbage, they don’t always make it to the landfill.  47% of landfill blow-away trash is plastic.
• Toxicity
  Manufacturing plastic releases toxins in the air, as does recycling plastic.  The additives used in plastic are often toxic and can leach into our food.  The surface of plastic is chemically attractive to some of the worst toxins in our environment (e.g., PCBs and pesticide metabolites).
• Harm to Marine Life
  More than 100,000 marine mammals and turtles, one million seabirds, and countless fish worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish each year.
• Choking the ocean
  Beaches on every continent are littered with plastic scraps and particles.  In a recent surface trawl of the North Pacific Gyre, 46 pounds of plastic were found for every pound of zooplankton.
• We’re eating plastic
  Fine particles of plastic are taken in by filter-feeders in the ocean.  These plastic-laden small creatures are then eaten by larger animals and plastics work their way up the food chain, all the way to our seafood menu.

Green Sangha’s Work

Since 2006, our actions have included:

• Promoting a successful campaign to ban plastic check-out bags in Fairfax, California, which reduces eights tons of waste per year
• Encouraging local and chain markets in California to reduce or eliminate plastic bags – produce bags as well as tote bags
• Giving over 240 talks to over 7000 citizens
• Publishing articles in local newspapers and magazines
• Showing our plastics display in scores of festivals, conferences, and other public gatherings
• Testifying before elected councils and boards

What You Can Do to support Green Sangha

1. Be the Change
   • Take your reusable bags wherever you shop; if you forget it, go get it!
   • Visit MyPlasticfreeLife.com to see how Beth Terry has reduced her plastic footprint creatively, and with good humor, too.
   • Learn about Ban the Bag Movements & Legislation in your area.
2. Share
   • Plastic State of Mind (http://bit.ly/plasticstateofmind)
   • Our Problem & Solution Guide (pdf)
   • This page on Facebook or other networks
3. Join the Campaign. Sign up for our Email Newsletter to read about current actions and starting one in your community.
4. Support Our Work. Donate to help us spread the word and produce more videos, raising awareness and catalyzing real change.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

xoxo, 

ski girl

Marry me, ski for free

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope you are skiing today with your sweetheart. It may be too soon for a V-day wedding this year, there is that pesky Colorado wedding license requirement. For those of you who get engaged tomorrow, you'll have a whole year to plan for a Valentine's wedding. You may want to make sure grandma can ski before you load her on the lift. There is only one way down.

xoxo,

ski girl

p.s.  Click HERE to make your plans for next year. 

Chairway 2 Heaven

 

On Sunday, February 13th from 12pm - 4pm, enjoy nine minutes in heaven on the Blue Chairlift with a new friend or lover!  Then join the "Meadows Mingle" at the bottom of the Blue chairlift to warm up with a fire, snacks, smooth tones, and fabulous prizes! For more details please visit the Mt. Hood Meadows  website.

Head to Mt. Hood Meadows with your special someone, or meet that special someone there.  I will be teaching, on Saturday not  Sunday, and hope to have my own pre-Chairway to Heaven moment.  I know who I want it to be with.  :)

xoxo, 

ski girl

Big Wave Skiing in Hawaii

Watch as Chuck Patterson skis, not surfs, skis, the Jaws surf break in Maui. He's using poles.  Wow!

xoxo, 

ski girl

Just ask for Jesse!

 "Island kids from Martinique. They had never seen snow before, let alone ski. They had a great day and were linking turns by the end of the 4 hour lesson. And I don't speak French!"  -Jesse

Jesse, is one of the many fabulous instructors at Mt. Hood Meadows in Oregon.  He has a vast technical knowledge of skiing and is happy to share it. He is a very patient instructor and is great with beginning skiers.  He has been teaching at Mt. Hood Meadows for three years, and has the skills and drills to advance your skiing whatever level you may start at.  He may not speak French, but he does speak German!  Anyway, much like love, skiing is a universal language.  No translations required.  Just get to the mountain and fall in love with the lifestyle!  For a fantastic lesson, request Jesse at Mt. Hood Meadows Ski School.


xoxo, 
ski girl
p.s.  A special thanks to Jesse, for sharing his class picture with me.  It's the best I've seen!

Little ski girls

yaya and xuanxuan learning ski at Mt. Hood Meadows.  These are two seriously cute, ski girls.  I'm not the instructor in the video, but this is basically how I spend most of my days at Meadows.  Get out and ski!

xoxo, 

ski girl

This is where I'll be today, come ski with me!

Come find me at Mt. Hood Meadows!  Once again, I'll be in the green jacket.

xoxo,
ski girl

Glen Plake PSIA Level 1 Alpine Instructor

I'm sure glad that when I passed my PSIA Level 1 exam, no one posted my scores online!   Glen Plake did a lot better than I did.  I got a lot of 3's.  I was a much better teacher, than skier when I first took the exam.  I have heard that the exams are more difficult in Colorado.  Way to go Glen!  Glen is now officially a Level 1 alpine instructor at Breckenridge.  How cool is that?  I'd love to take a lesson from him.  I wish he worked with me in Kid Ski.  Fun, fun , fun!

In case you don't know who Glen Plake is and are wondering why, oh why, is she so excited about this?!  Here is the official Glen Plake youtube scoop:



Not your average PSIA Level 1 instructor!

Oh Glen, please lose the cigarette, put on a helmet, and come ski with me at Mt. Hood Meadows! 

xoxo, 

ski girl

True love

aaahhhhh!  Every girl has a list of attributes their dream guy must have.  #1 for me: He has to love skiing.

xoxo,
ski girl

50 ways to spend a snow day

I found this on the Denver based Mile High Mamas page. Check them out!  Now if I had a snow day I would go ski, but for those of you who don't ski, go take a lesson.  And if you can't do that the following list is for you. 

xoxo,

ski girl

 

Another day, another snow storm. Here are 50 ways to spend a snow day:

Make an abominable snowman. It’s like a regular snowman, but less friendly to passers-by.

Practice multiplication and script with your kids. That’ll put them in a REALLY good mood. For older kids, break out the practice tests.

Delete all of the expletive-laden “music” from your teenager’s Napster playlist on the family computer, while she’s not looking.

Make snow ice cream, slushies or ‘tinis. Harvest icicles for the latter.

Put on your fanciest evening dress and jewelry, grab your cocktail and pretend you’re in an old movie. That sounds a lot better than, “Sit around your apartment and get wasted.”

Fill squirt bottles with water and food coloring and make art on the snow. Let your dog help out.

Trudge around town for a store that hasn’t sold out on sleds.

Wash the floors by hand. Or use a toothbrush.

Do that mending and ironing you’ve been putting off since 2004.

Groom the dog. Then suck all the fur off your couch.

Make freeze-ahead dinners. The ones you wish you had right now.

Go rooftop luging.

Get kids the Lil’ Capt. Robert Scott Antarctic Expedition playset.

Shovel through piles of climate change theories.

Shred your pile of old documents. Better yet, multitask. Use them to light up the fireplace.

Change the batteries in the smoke detectors, since you forgot during Fall Back.

Find all the lids to the Tupperware.

Play Monopoly with the rules that make the game go slower.

Go through your junk drawer. Do not be afraid.

Clean your silverware and jewelry. Alternatively, pine for silverware and jewelry worth cleaning.

Sort mementos into keep and toss piles. Spend time poring over the keepers—after all, that’s why you’re keeping them.

Make a master calendar for gift-giving dates. Shop ahead online. Or for yourself. Pretend there are sales.

Invite over neighbors and children you rarely see for a potluck dinner.

Make a list of all the things you love about your valentine for a card or scrapbook. Make stuff up if you have to.

Actually use those cross-country skis, or skates or showshoes you were always planning to try out after a big snow. C’mon, you can do it!

Scan old photos and make a photo book. Then force the kids to look at pictures of their parents when they were little.

Do your taxes! April 15 only feels far off.

Chug a shot and break open your financial portfolio.

Order seeds and plants for your spring garden. Yes, spring will come eventually.

Update your resume. Hey, it’s better than doing it at work and leaving it in the copying machine.

Go through clothes (for you and your children) in drawers and closet. Try on and toss.

Upload your CDs, finally. Now, this may be difficult: Toss the CDs and the CD player.

Take out all the beach chairs, umbrellas and boogie boards and make a beach day in the snow.

Google yourself.

Collect all the pennies from the corners of the house, coat pockets, sofa cushions, jeans in the laundry. Maybe you’ll have enough for a cup of coffee at Starbucks. Then again, maybe not.

Write a letter. You know the kind, with pen and paper.

Make snowflakes out of paper. Tape them to your windows to block out the white piles outside.

Teach haiku—five, seven, five—and make a book of illustrated snow haiku.

Create air fare alerts for deals to your dream destinations.

Play this fun game with your kids: Let’s Clean the Bathroom!

You know that neighbor who won’t stop blasting music? That’s where your shoveled snow goes.

Play family-friendly spin the bottle with your chore list. Hope it doesn’t point to you when it’s time to clean toilets.

Mani-pedi, scrub or mask, deep condition. You choose the body parts.

Bubble bath. Turn down the lights, light a candle and pretend you’re in a spa. Doesn’t do it for you? It’s not completely impossible that a real one is open.

Experiment all day on devising the ultimate chocolate chip cookie. Tasting mandatory.

Begin your memoirs.

Take pictures of all your belongings to inventory for insurance. Now do a written inventory.

Sleep. If that doesn’t work, make some nookie!

Send hate mail to your friends and relatives in warm-weather places. Or block them on Facebook.

Look at Florida real estate online, so you never have to read this again.

-Leanne Italie

It's not cancer!

We got the path report back earlier today and it is awesome.  Siena's tumor is benign!  It's a choral plaxus papilloma.  It's rare but if you end up with a tumor it's a good one to have.  No Cancer!!!!!!!!!!  The average age that kids have it is age five.  Siena is 11.  It is very rare for it to reoccur once it has been removed.  Her doctor said she'll be ready for spring skiing, April or so!!!!  Yay, the little ski princess will ski again.

xoxo,
ski girl