a perfect day - almost

There are plenty of great days in life but very few perfect days. Saturday was one of those days that was almost perfect. It was the last weekend of skiing at Stevens Pass so we met my dad up at this hill for a day of skiing.

The weather forecast was for 70 degrees in Seattle so we knew it would be a warm one. When we arrived it was already 40 degrees so we started taking off the layers instead of piling them on. It is going to be a warm day on the hill when you grab sunglasses and a baseball hat instead of goggles and a ski hat.

The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue color. Unlike most last weekends of skiing we didn't have to look for rocks or the tops of trees since they still had over 150" of snow left though by the end of the day I think it was considerably less.

The only item preventing it from being a perfect day was the snow - it was slushy in the sun and crunchy in the shade which made for an interesting transition. My dad described it as someone grabbing the back of your skis hanging on and then suddenly letting go when your body was still moving and the skis weren’t quite keeping up. It made for a bit of challenge in keeping ones balance.

You could tell that everyone on the slopes wasn’t used to the sun or warm weather as the atmosphere had a bit of giddiness to it. When you live someplace where the sun in is short supply when it does come out it is time to celebrate. There were costumes, crazy hats, Hawaiian shirts, and even a few brave souls going shirtless or wearing bikini tops though they did look a bit cold. The beginnings of sunburns were already visible for those who had forgotten or chose not to wear their sunscreen.

We got in just the right amount of runs where during last run of the day you can feel leg muscles you didn’t know you had and are a bit wobbly. You know another run could be a disaster and you could end up getting a free toboggan ride.

We topped off a great day on the hill with dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant Chantanee, watching the Mariners win a close one, and sitting in the hot tub while it was still in the upper 60’s. What a way to end the last day of the season – I am already anxious for the next ski season even though it means the end of summer and a return of our gray and rainy Seattle weather.