Ski Birthday at Hidden Valley

So, my birthday was last month.  32.  Yep, it was awful awful awful awesome. 

Anyway, to cheer myself up from the dark reality that I am in fact old and only getting older and will probably die soon, I thought it'd be fun to get some friends together and go act like a kid in the snow!  Besides, what else is there to do in the dead winter of January?  So the Ski Day Birthday Celebration Extravanga was born. 

If you've ever been to the Midwest, you're proably baffled as to where in the heck could we possibly ski in Missouri.  Well well, let me tell you...it's not all flat around here.  Don't get me wrong, we've got plenty of flat in Missouri and we're surrounded by flat (hello Iowa, Illinois, Kansas), but we also have the Ozark Mountains.  MOUNTAINS!  Did you hear that?  Ok, so they're not real mountians, they're more like big hills, but really that's all you need to ski, right?  Well, a big hill and snow, of course.  Luckily, we were not lacking in snow this winter, so the skiing was actually pretty good.  No, not Breckenridge good, but good enough.  Whatever.  Moving on.

Our local ski resort, Hidden Valley, is a golf course converted into a ski resort.  I'll use the term "resort" very loosely in this situation, but again, not bad for Missouri.  They've got ski and snowboard rentals, a couple lifts, a dining area, and most importantly, a fully stocked bar!  Score!  Again, what else do you need, big hill, snow, booze.  Check, check, check.

Apparently it was a holiday weekend (one of those holidays I don't get off work so I don't know which one) and the place was packed.  It took us for-ev-er to get our skis, but that gave us time to gather our crew and  come up with a ski strategy for the day.  We figured we'd do 4-5 runs, drink a few pitchers of beer, do 4-5 more runs, another few pitchers of beer, and so on, repeating until we were either too tired or drunk to ski.  We all thought this was an excellent plan.

Here's part of our crew: Andy, me, Stephanie and Erika.  Stephanie and I had just been in Breckenridge over the holidays skiing and Andy and Erika were about to go, so this was a great crew to ski with.

And here I am at the top of the mountain hill with my incredibly handsome husband.

And we're off! 

Ryan took the camera down first to get some good action shots for me.

Erika was a very good and very fast skiier.  

Her husband Andy was...well, not quite as fast, but had exceptional form.  :)

Perfect execution, Andy.

Stephanie was fresh off doing some of her first black diamond runs in Breckenridge and was tearing up the slopes here.

My brother Timmy and his friend David (below) opted for snowboards over skis. 

Snowboards scare me.

And then there's me...going down my first black diamond run.

Hahahahahaha...black diamond my ass.

This black diamond was like a super short blue in Breck or a green in Jackson Hole.

But whatever, it was fun!

And I think I handled it masterfully.

Ta da!!

Here's little brother coming down the hill on a snowboard. 

I had no idea he could snowboard.

Finally I decided I wanted to get some pictures of Ryan, so I made my way down the hill with the camera.  I had yet to fall once all day and thought my chances were pretty good that I'd make it down upright, but oh no.  As soon as I strapped on the camera, I bit it hard and rolled a good 20 feet down the hill, losing a ski and a pole in the process.  Go figure.  Everyone stood at the top laughing at me while I eventually drug myself over to the sidelines and pulled out the camera.  It was ok.  I was fine too (other than a bruised ego) and managed to get off some pictures that made it look like we'd just slalom skied down the mountain.

Nice tuck action, Steph.

And finally Ryan came down in a big group of people, so I didn't get a good shot.  Here he is looking bored out of his mind.  I guess Hidden Valley just isn't as thrilling to him after skiing the T-Bar in Breckenridge.

Whatever.  Time for beer!

Definitely not a bad way to spend a birthday.  Thanks to my friends for coming out and skiing with me.  I can't wait to do it again soon!