Ski Bus Trip Jan 3rd, 2025

By Evelyn Konrad

FIRST 2025 MIRAMAR WEEKEND

My son Robert drove us up to the lodge a few days before the bus trip on empty highways until we got to the mountain road, at which time we would have loved to have someone’s red brake lights to follow. The road was icy and lousy. Snow came at our windshield horizontally in a thick, white-out blizzard. I was panicked. Rob was thrilled. In fact, he even took pictures of the snow coming in wind-speed assaults on our car. “It’s snowing,” he said, cheerfully, as the car lurched dangerously close to the snow-covered ditch alongside. “How beautiful,” he added. “How dangerous,” I said.

Others, who had also had the misfortune of hitting the mountain road in the storm, agreed with me, but we were all thrilled to pieces to see the full cover of Sugarbush Mountain the next day. But, the snow was sticky, and I was unsteady after my three-week trip to Thailand, Lagos, Cambodia and Vietnam. My lengthy trip was terrific, but how the hell do you get back down to earth? The first day on skis, I didn’t, except for an embarrassing fall, due to lousy skiing.

My friend on the mountain sharpened my edges and wiped hot wax on my skis. The next day, the snow was packed and no longer sticky, but I was heading downhill like a bat out of hell. Didn’t know where I was going nor how to get there, but boy, my skis were fast.

Over the weekend, we had the usual number of terrific guests, who introduced themselves at dinner. They were a cheerful lot and took part in all the club activities, from bussing their tables, to skiing or snowboarding, to drinking at our cocktail hour, and inhaling our wonderful new chef’s terrific hot appetizers. I seem to have been done of my usual crudité-cutting chore by his generosity, one of my rare domestic skills. (The other is packing and unpacking extremely well and fast, which came in handy in Southeast Asia, where we did not stay in any hotel more than three nights, and a couple of times, just one night. I kept remembering with gratitude the years of training for efficient group activities that I have in 25 years of Miramar membership. P.S. Guess what? One of the Southeast Asia groupies was a former Miramartian! We do get around.)

On our last day, the snow was especially fast and terrific. Nonetheless, I wimped out because I can’t take the wind when I’m on skis. I was blown up the mountain one windy day and have never forgotten it. Anyhow, no apparent injuries to members or guests on the weekend, except to my pride.

A mandatory tribute to one of my favorite Miramar skiers, a very pretty lady. Lo and behold, she had a knee replacement at the start of last summer and has been skiing for several weeks already. She showed me her knee with its vertical scar, and she bent and stretched the leg like a ballerina. I was particularly impressed because I’ve seen other knee replacement folks who could barely bend their knee a year and more after their operation. Yes, I know that there have been immense improvements in knee surgery, but I raise my hat to determination and will power.

My friend did intensive physical therapy and urged me to go to her physical therapist, who, she says, isn’t very nice, but is damned good. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So, I’ll keep on skiing with my trusty knee brace! We have had some 25 years together, and I hope for a few more.