shawni shimbashi

First run of the season leaves me hurting and happy…

I just got back form a Christmas holiday with the fam.  We left Christmas afternoon, right after gift opening and a delicious waffle with whipped cream and raspberry brunch.  We trekked out to the mountains of Kalispell, MT seeing all kinds of wildlife along the way.

By the time we arrived, we were famished for our supper.  We drove up and down the streets of the city, but as it was Christmas night, there was NOTHING open.  We were finally rescued when we spotted the dim lighting of The Thai Palace.  I ate my Christmas dinner out of half a hollowed pineapple; it was amazing!!  I’d be seriously okay with implementing this as a tradition.

The next morning, we hit the slopes.  My front binding broke off during the first run, so that was interesting.  I spent the first two runs relearning how to carve and wiping out pretty hard core, but after a while, I was having fun.

The sky was thick with clouds as far as I could see but as I was swept up on a chairlift, there was a drastic change.  We were suddenly taken above the fog; the view was blissfully beautiful.  The sky was periwinkle blue and the trees were coated with layers upon layers of sticky snow.  They looked like an army of marshmallow people as I whooshed past.

The rest of the trip was spent chilling with the fam (literally, it was very cold).  We shopped, we ate holiday treats, we watched random movies like The Corpse Bride and Batman Begins.  I love the holidays…

Now I’m wishing that there were more powder on the slopes as I struggle to lift my hands above my shoulders.  But it was so worth it.