My husband and I are skiers at heart! Of all the things we have in common, skiing is one that lies at the soul of who we are. However, that was not always the case for me. I'll never forget that first trip to Keystone in 2002. As a sophomore in high school I had never been to the mountains. I had only skied once in a small town in Missouri on what can only truly be called big hills covered with ice. That was a mortifying experience in itself for I lost my footing, my skis flew off and I tumbled down the large hill. I was offered a stretcher to be taken the rest of the way down. But in order to maintain what pride I had left, I walked down in my boots. With this experience behind me I took my first real trip to Colorado with my best friend and her family when I was only 16. My friend had never skied before and was talking some big game. She thought she was going to get out there and show Colorado what a Missouri girl could do on the slopes. Having that horrible "icy hill" incident in the back of my mind I knew that I would be taking it easy; seeing how the mountains are a whole new ball game and I had barely made it through the little leagues. Well that first day out on the slopes was all it took for my friend to realize that skiing just wasn't her thing. After skiing for many hours and having to work hard to keep with it she finally decided she had enough when we got to the top of her brother-in-laws all time favorite run...Starfire! She stopped at the top of that massive slope, looked down, and knew it was all over. I have to give her credit, she at least tried!She cut back and forth a couple of times, very slowly, and in very large rotations. However, after falling, and falling and falling, she finally gave up. Already at the bottom of the mountain, this is what I saw. One pole flies to the left, one pole flies to the right, one ski flies to the left, one ski flies to the right...and she begins to walk the whole way down the steep blue of a run in just her ski boots (possibly worse than the difficulty of skiing down the run; I should know). The best part came once she got to the bottom. Not one, two, or three, but four different people politely brought her the four items she had tossed. She says thank you, pops her skis back on, looks at her brother (who's laughing as he catches the whole thing on camera) and says "I quit!" Once again, I have to give her some credit because I knew how she felt. But I had come to Keystone with the correct mindset and knew it would take some time to master this new skill. Little by little that trip I learned how to cut and how to control my speed and by the time we had to leave to head home, I knew I would be a skier for life! My husband and I have now been to Colorado every other year in the past 10 years...I hate the off years!