We love to ski with our kids, but every now and again, it’s great to get out there with the over 21 crowd. Or in this case, mostly over 50.
Leave Your Mark?
November 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A family road trip to South Dakota raises questions about the line between vandalism and art. When I dropped my daughter off at school last week, I noticed a giant multi-colored splotch of spray-painted graffiti on the school’s brick wall. It was unsightly and amateurish. Clearly, this was vandalism. Yet, […]
Missing Persons Alert
April 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
We love our kids to smithereens, but every now and then, it does a mom good to escape from the family unit and regroup with the lady friends. And when those girlfriends are all rippers, Vail is the perfect getaway. I can count the number of times on one hand […]
When Mom Joins the Kids’ Adventure Race
April 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last summer, I got off the bench and got in the game for a thrilling adventure race with my daughter. The good news is that I survived it. The challenge was called the “Darwin Dash,” a name that suggested impending doom. Imagine a blue rubber mat the size of a […]
Locals’ Guide to Hiking Highland Bowl
March 1, 2018 by 2 Comments
Slogging up the ridge at to the top of Highland Bowl with my teenager in tow made me realize, there’s got to be a better way. Three locals’ share their wisdom. Hiking Highland Bowl at Aspen Highlands is a rite of passage for any diehard skier. It’s a 782-foot bootpack […]
The Alicorn and the Tulle Skirt
November 11, 2017 by 5 Comments
Why making a homemade Halloween costume is a supremely bad idea that will bring your child immense joy. My daughter announced she planned to be an Alicorn for Halloween. Yeah, I didn’t know what that was, either. It’s a magical combination of a Pegasus and a unicorn. “Pegacorn” makes more […]
Zen and the Art of Sea Glass Collecting
July 6, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Combing a pebbled-covered beach is a little like raking a Zen rock garden. I’ve discovered a new form of meditation: searching for sea glass. I’ve never been able to meditate in the traditional sense. I’ve tried. But my mind soon wanders and starts to churn on all of life’s crud: […]
We’re with the Band
November 27, 2015 by 7 Comments
A cluster of black socks paired with knobby knees, sneakers, and baggy shorts is a dead giveaway that you are in the general vicinity of a high school marching band competition. It’s not a Cosmo fashion “don’t.” Think of it more as Geek Chic. My son, who is a freshman, […]
What Bode Miller’s Crash Has To Do with Parenthood
February 11, 2015 by 2 Comments
Bode Miller crashed horrifically during the Super G race at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Beaver Creek last week. He was having an sensational Bode-style run that put him 0.56 seconds ahead of the leader at the splits. The run would have landed him on the podium […]
The Fudge Factor
March 1, 2014 by 4 Comments
Making good on a promise meant a very ridiculous day for this mom. There’s a very good reason I was skiing a week ago at Copper with an enormous stuffed bear on my back. Over the summer, when it was time to sign our kids up for ski racing programs […]
My Oatmeal Brain
August 8, 2013 by 10 Comments
My broken arm is making me a bad mommy. Really it is. Let’s review a few of the things that I fumbled in one week after I had my arm shortened. (That’s not a joke; I’ll explain later.) It would seem my brain has turned to mush. First, I forgot […]
The College Reunion
June 25, 2013 by 6 Comments
Let’s Do the Time Warp Again Under a giant white party tent, revelers buzzed in a convivial frenzy over glasses of chardonnay. A man leaned in, beer in hand, and whispered in my ear, “I’m going to give you a hickey before the weekend’s out.” Now this would otherwise be […]
Soccer Mom, Not so Much
May 7, 2013 by 19 Comments
Ski-Racing Moms: Support Crew with Benefits. Horse moms, swim moms, and soccer moms have nothing on ski racing moms. The proof is in the powder. A friend was recently telling me about the perils of being a horse mom. A corporate executive by weekday, she mucks out horse poop from […]
Need for Speed
February 4, 2013 by 5 Comments
Better than Band Camp: Steamboat’s Speed Camp for Ski Racers My tweenage son, who weighs in at a willowy 70 pounds, recently was clocked at 59 miles per hour. He was not in a car. Or on a bike, for that matter. He was balled up in a tuck, sliding […]
One Weird Mother’s Day
May 18, 2012 by Leave a Comment
On my strangest mother’s day ever, I found myself ruminating on high school massacres and fetal microchimeras. This past mother’s day, while most other moms were out eating Eggs Benedict and French toast, I was on an airplane, flying back from a book event in San Francisco. For reasons unknown, […]
