Kipworld

People who just get stuff done amaze me. This past weekend, Phil just threw together this ski strip in middle WI and we went and it was fun. What amazes me is that Woods and I were planning and planning and just never got around to doing anything. Then Phil just says, “Hey, let’s go skiing” and wham: we’re on the hill.

We left Saturday morning at 6AM. Woods drove one car, Phil took the other. It was so early that I don’t really remember much of the drive up beyond the rest stop at the Belvidere Oasis (mmm, McDonald’s). We got to the hill around 9:30. Tomasz and I went to get rental stuff and everyone else suited up to hit the slope.

And by slope, I mean it. Cascade Mountain has about 12 runs, all down one side. They’re very similar. I was a little unsure of how much skiing I would remember but as soon as I strapped in, it came back. My crappy rental skis were short and slow, however, so every run I went down, Woods beat me. Grrr.

Even though it only took 30 seconds to get down a run, and you didn’t really have to turn, there’s still something great about skiing. It’s really a sport about owning speed. I think one of my favorite parts is near the bottom of the run when you’re angling for the chair lift line and you’re in total control as you try to spray your friends with powder.

Tomasz was learning to snowboard. Peter and Phil were also boarding. I think that if I go to one of these small hills again, I’ll try learning, just for the heck of it.

After skiing, we went to check in at the hotel. We relaxed a bit with the fine bit of quality cinema known as Jaws III (Jaws goes to a theme park). Then we went to Culver’s for dinner.

After dinner, we hit Ho Chunk Casino. Peter went off to the slots and the rest of us sat down at a $5 minimum blackjack table. I won $60! Very spiffy. Then they switched out our entertaining dealer for one who was efficient and stonefaced. So sad. So we left.

Next day, we tried to get up early enough to beat the crowds but it wasn’t really necessary. Sundays aren’t really high traffic. Skiing was more fun because Woods and I just did the two mogul runs over and over. I knew that I’d be sore… but I didn’t care. We also went to the terrain park area and tried some jumps.

We left the hill early, as we’d kinda skied it out and we had been skied out. The drive home was pretty long, but at least we got home with plenty of time to crash before work the next day.

In all, I’m glad I went, but it was more of a taste than anything else. I really want to scrounge up some vacation days to go on a real trip out west. We’ll see.

Mmmm, owning speed.