On January 21st, bright and early, 20 of us set out for Sun Valley, Idaho, most of us starting from Dulles, with several others starting from Boston, Atlanta, and Orlando. Luckily, everyone�s flight did take off, and on time, so we all made it to Boise, and eventually Sun Valley without a hitch. Because of the vast amount of snowfall Sun Valley received the previous week, we were anticipating an excellent week of skiing, and of course, Sun Valley did NOT disappoint.

The next morning, most of us hit the slopes bright and early, and were treated to a gorgeous sunny day. Several of us, namely Steve Konopa, Mike Bailey, Steve Chase, Wes Rogers, and I, took advantage of a free powder clinic offered by a Canadian heli-skiing outfit. We were enlightened with the wit and wisdom of an Austrian mountain guide named Rocko, who in addition to showing us how to ski �POW-DAH�, showed us various other helpful techniques which we were able to put to good use throughout the week.

For the next three or four days, Sun Valley definitely lived up to its name, since we had bright sun and beautiful blue skies. And like the last time I skied Sun Valley, we were all reminded that slopes marked �easiest� is a term relative to the resort. Simply put, they are the easiest slopes there, but these same �easy� slopes would clearly be a �more difficult� or �most difficult� slope elsewhere. Consequently, many skiers didn�t advance to the black diamond slopes quite as quickly as usual, and many were perfectly happy staying on the green slopes. Unfortunately, this did affect our Nastar race participation somewhat. However, the 75% of us who did race did give it our best shot, and even though none of us received medals, I extend my congratulations to Steve Konopa for not forcing the club to go away empty-handed, receiving an award for the third fastest male in his age group.

While I am congratulating people, I would also like to extend kudos to Kris Schiller. Kris was a first-time skier who decided to join her new husband Jim at Sun Valley. After some lessons, and some time in the beginner area of Dollar Mountain, she graduated to the �Big Girl� slopes very quickly. And at Sun Valley, this is no small accomplishment. Go Kris!

Although some fresh snow would have been nice, there was still plenty of snow and sunny skies, providing the best conditions there in 20 years, according the locals. We did get teased with a snowstorm prediction for the last couple days, but that amounted to off and on snow showers that eventually tapered off.

The prediction did finally turn out to be accurate, unfortunately, as we were preparing to head back east. Battling the snow storm, along with a traffic jam on the way to Boise did seriously make us wonder if we would make our flight time, but we did, and eventually made it home without a hitch.

Here�s to a great week!

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