Skiing With A Ski Film Veteran

Saturday I got to ski with my friend, Chris Anthony.  He's been in 21 Warren Miller films and is a big mountain skier.  Yes it's been an incredible week for me getting one-on-one lessons with Billy Kidd at Steamboat Springs and Saturday skiing Beaver Creek with Chris.

We had a blast.  Chris worked on technique with me, keeping me in that ski like a world champion mentality.

If you know Beaver Creek, we trained on Lattigo and Gold Dust.  These are two blue runs.


Couple of things Chris worked with me on:

Keep your shoulders and chest forward.  Think belly to the base.
Look down mountain, not at your ski tips or just a few feet in front of you.
As you pole plant, stand up then bend into the turn as you put weight into the downhill (or outside) ski.

After a few runs with Chris, he headed out to ski with another friend who is a very advanced skier.

I took a couple more runs with my friend Carl, who's a blues to blacks skier.

Great day skiing with friends and working on my technique!

Running Along Gore Creek...and Checking Out The View

My Sunday morning run was along Gore Valley Trail.  I started out about 9:30am in 64 degrees weather. I decided I just wanted to do a nice leisurely jog, Facebooking and tweeting along the way while taking in the amazing scenery on a beautiful Sunday morning.  


It's a mile along the Gore Creek from Vail Cascade Resort to Lionshead Village.  At Lionshead I ran right through the Mini Golf course and by the chair lift then back by creek.  I popped up street side in Vail Village to check out the Farmers Market.
Jump back on trail on east side of Village on the Gore Creek Stream Walk, which is gravel, to Betty Ford Way and run to and around the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens, the highest botanic gardens in the United States, and Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater. 

On the way back I took the Golden Peak/Ford Park route back to Vail Village and connect back on Gore Creek Stream Walk.

I then had to go through part of Vail Village Farmers Market again to catch the Gore Valley Trail again to head back to Vail Cascade.

Straight shot from Cascade to Alpine Gardens is about 2 miles each way. I added some extra to hit over 5 miles.

After a post-workout lunch I was walking around with my friend Kim, who was visiting me for the weekend, and Chris, who lives in the Vail Valley.  Chris Anthony is an extreme skier and in ridiculous cardio shape.  As we walk over from Vail Village to the Alpine Gardens he made the comment jokingly, "You ran this far?"  Yes Chris I did.  Running is the only sport I could beat him at since his knees from years of competitive skiing won't let him do much more than a mile.  Now hiking up a mountain, bike riding, and of course skiing....I'm eating his dust!