On Top of the World in Tahoe

Tahoe was in a word, amazing. Brad and I met up in the Phoenix airport and had several cocktails at the airport bar. The only thing that stopped the little impromptu party we had going with some other groups in the bar was the departure of our delayed flight to Reno. After getting to Reno we got the car and drove over the moutain to Tahoe. Clothes were changed, drinks were had and money was won that first evening. Off to a good start. Next morning, bright and early, Heavenly beckoned. The temperature on top of the moutain was a great fifty degrees. We got our bearings and dialed it up pretty quickly, ending up in the Milky Way Bowl, a black section of the moutain, famous for overlooking the Nevada desert. After skiing there all afternoon, we skied back to the bottom down Orion's Run. This is notable because Sonny Bono was killed on this run. That evening, we recovered by imbibing a little. Sweet liquor eases the pain. The next morning, water bottles and tylenol in hand, we headed to meet Tony. Tony is the ski guide that has been instructing/guiding my family for years. Well, this time Tony was under specific instructions. Brad and I wanted the hardest terrain on the moutain. He delivered. Mott and Killibrew Canyon are nothing short of vicious. We skied most of the day and then came death slide number one. To clarify, a death slide is a term used by locals to describe what happens when a skier falls on a run that is so steep they not only don't stop, they actually accelerate down the hill. Many skiers are seriously injured or killed by colliding with a tree or simply by tumbling down the moutain. Brad slipped out on a turn and slid past me at like thirty miles an hour. He tumbled all the way down the ski run and ended up resting face down on top of a mogul. Tony and I rushed down, figuring at least a broken arm or leg. Nothing, nada, not even a scratch. If only him and I were this lucky at the tables. We took it easy the rest of the day to try to keep Brad from being too sore the following day. That night Brad and I put on the peacocking clothes and went out for a nice steak dinner. Drinks and hilarity ensued as we were easily the two loudest dressed people in Nevada that night. The following day, Brad got his vengeance as Chris had his turn to enjoy the death slide. The entrance to Widowmaker pretty much whipped me. Brad was not there to see this one though, so he couldnt enjoy the visual. Seriously though, we were both very lucky not to have been injured (except for me somehow getting a bruise on my nose, no idea). Skiing the rest of the day proved entertaining as we met up with a B, no not even a B, a C-celebrity on the slopes. We ended up skiing with Marc Price, who played Skippy on the hit 80's show Family Ties. How I end up in these situations I have no idea. So we tree-skied all afternoon, got off the slopes, rushed to the Reno Airport, hit up In-N-Out for a burger and hopped a flight to Phoenix. Stayed with Jon in Phoenix and flew home to Austin the next morning. Trip was so good, we are going to try to make this an annual thing. Things I will remember about this trip: the bbq sauce incident, the water bottle incident, Brad's shirt, and some others that will go unmentioned.

The View Out of the Hotel Room