Well, there was the time when I got a concussion from falling into a creek hole and had to be stretchered into the first aid station.
Then there was that other time when I got not one but two speeding tickets on the way up, and narrowly missed being hit by a sliding overturned semi.
And once, my youngest came down with a fever on the way up and I skied anyway while my poor sick baby slept in the lodge. I still feel guilty about that day.
But today will definitely go down in history as one of my worst ski trips ever to Stevens Pass.
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It started out innocently enough. I left home around 8:30 a.m. and enjoyed some interesting scenery on the drive up.
Just a mile or so from the resort, the omnipresent rain turned to snow and I was overjoyed. In my enthusiasm, I snapped a few shots in the parking lot. That's a sure sign that I'm pumped to be there and fired up for a day of skiing.
It was when I finally took my first run that my calamities arose.
I couldn't see.
Instead of my usual unbeatable combo of contact lenses topped with a pair of ski goggles, I have been forced to wear my glasses lately. I have two pairs to choose from, plus I had my goggles with me. But with the snow falling, no combination of glasses, goggles, or glasses with goggles afforded me decent vision. I was literally unable to make out my own feet.
I had no choice but to call it quits for the day. And I'm no quitter, especially when it comes to skiing, so you know the situation was dire.
I went inside and ate my lunch. And then, after two measly runs and less than a half hour on the mountain, I packed up and went home.
But wait. To add insult to injury, my car then decided to get stuck on the icy drive in the parking lot. After using all my Michigan-born-and-bred tricks for getting a snowbound car unstuck, I had to bust out my tire chains and solve the problem with technology.
Nothing like getting down on all fours in the snow and fumbling around in your wheel wells to wrap complex bits of metal behind and up and around your tires. Let me add that the chains were covered in rusty powder and my hands got filthy dirty.
Alright. I'm done complaining now.
After that, things went much better. I got home safely and worked on my Valentine projects, enjoying the winter sunshine streaming in my windows and a few episodes of Alias. That was lovely.
And while this wretched episode will undoubtedly go down in my personal history as one of the most abject failures of a ski day ever, it's nice to know that even a frustrating day like this one could be redeemed.
* * * * *
Wanna read about all the twists and turns of my ill-fated 2012-2013 ski season? Check these out:
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