Snow Bunnies

Alright, let's face it. Downhill skiing in Wisconsin isn't exactly what it is in, say, Colorado. Or Michigan. Or Vermont.

However, it is still an incredibly exhilarating and exciting way to spend a winter afternoon in these parts. When a vacation in the mountains isn't in the plan, places like Grand Geneva Resort offer downhill skiing to Wisconsin’s masses.

Sunday dawned sunny and crisp, which was a pleasant change from the dreary weather we’d had the rest of the week. I picked up my friend, Lauren (you remember Lauren!) around 10 a.m. and we were off to Lake Geneva to hit the slopes.

Lauren, whose dad lives in Denver, is an avid skier and snowboarder. I, on the other hand, have only been skiing a handful of times in my life, and before yesterday, it had been more than five years since my last outing. The first time I ever skied was on my 11^th birthday, and I just remember it being the best day of my life up to that point. I caught on pretty quick even then, so I wasn’t too worried about yesterday.

I grew up in Burlington, which is just 10 minutes away from Lake Geneva, so Grand Geneva is the only place I’ve ever been skiing. When I first went, the resort was called Americana and the ski hills had names like “Hot Dog Mountain" and "Michigan." I called them by those names all day and I think Lauren thought I just made them up. I didn’t, though!



When we pulled into the parking lot and saw the hills looming before us, it all came back to me. Riding the lifts with girlfriends, giggling about the boys we had crushes on. Seriously, that’s what I remember most about my ski outings when I was young – it was all about the boys!

After reading a sign warning us that the activity we were about to partake in could result in "catastrophic injury or death," we bundled ourselves up, got our lift tickets and boots, and headed on through to get our skis. The place was bustling with a lot of kids and families already at 11 a.m., but we still got our skis pretty quickly and were outside before we knew it.



It was so bright and beautiful out there – I was so excited to get going! Grand Geneva has three ski lifts that go up three main hills, but then there are 18 different trails to get down, ranging from very easy to expert level. The far hill is the easiest, the middle one (named Michigan back in my day) is moderate, with some expert trails on there, and the tallest one, closest to the lodge (which I fondly remember as "Hot Dog Moutain") is obviously the most difficult.

Since it was the lift we were closest to, we decided to try the middle hill right away. We lugged our skis as close to the lift as possible before putting them on – we didn’t want to do any more cross-country skiing than we had to! (We inevitably still did quite a bit throughout the day, pushing ourselves along with our ski poles – our arms got quite a workout!) We stood in the short line – which grew longer and longer as the day went on – and boarded.  That thing just keeps on moving, so you always have to be ready to get on and ready to slide on off at the top!

The ride up is a lift is quite peaceful, and it’s fun to watch all the skiers below. It was amusing to scan the horizon and see that there was no snow anywhere except on the hills. It was obviously fake snow, and I had been worried that it’d be really slick and hard to ski on, but it was amazingly fluffy and soft! There were patches of ice here and there, and it made a frightening scraping sound as you skied over it, but for the most part, the snow was just great.



When we got off the lift the first time, I was starting to get butterflies in my stomach. I remembered from previous visits that I had always gone down the bunny hill at least once, just to get my “ski legs” about me, but this time, not wanting to look like a wimp, I just went for it. Oh man, I was nervous.

The back of the hill wasn’t overly steep, but the first incline was more than I thought I could handle on my first try. I ended up sidestepping down it, trying not to fall, or squeal too much, until I was confident that I could start skiing without going too fast. Lauren was supportive, but was laughing, too. Once I went down the first time, though, I was golden. It felt wonderful to let myself go and fly down the hill.

Lauren, being the professional, went side to side down the hill – whoosh, whoosh – never going too fast, staying in complete control. I just couldn’t get both of my skis parallel very well – at least not when I was going fast. At first, I was the “snowplow queen,” as Lauren called me, which means I kept my skis in a V-shape and just plowed through the snow as slowly as possible. When the time came to go down the hill, I just “bombed it” – another of her terms – which means I just flew! It’s really scary to be that out-of-control, but you just gotta trust that you can keep your skis straight and not fall!

We went down the far hill – the easiest one – a few times right after that, but quickly came back to the middle one, as the far one was a bit too easy.

Throughout the day, I thought I was getting on and off the lifts like a pro, but I had two different lift operators make fun of me. “Try not to fall this time!” said one at the top (ok, I almost fell the time before that, but a little girl fell in front of me! It wasn’t MY fault.) And then later, one at the bottom said “Want me to slow it down for you?” with a smirk. What weenies. I think I was doing just fine, thanks.

After about ten times up and down, we were starving and decided to head into the lodge for some lunch. We laid our skis up against one of the racks and walked – awkwardly, in our heavy, forward-tilting ski boots – inside. The place was packed, and we waited in line quite awhile, but we ordered and managed to find a place to sit amid the chaos.



I was jonesin for a cheeseburger, and at the last minute my stomach convinced me to go for the double-cheeseburger. Ooh, it was good, but too much – I was really full when we were done. Lauren had a chicken fajita wrap and we also shared some fries and a chocolate chip cookie. It all hit the spot! The lodge also offers brats, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, mini pizzas, candy bars, and all sorts of beverages, including hot chocolate if you need something to warm you up. For those who are legal and want to do some warmin up of their own, there's a bar adjacent to the cafeteria, too.

After a quick lunch we were back outside. We decided to ski down the middle hill a few more times to regain our bearings, and then we headed over to the big guy. There was a sign warning amateur skiers of this particular lift and hill. The lift went faster than the others, making it harder to get on and off, and it also towered much higher off the ground, as the hill was a lot steeper.



We got up there and yeah, we were quite a bit higher than before. I never made it further than down the back and then a few times down the side of the hill (which was labeled "Difficult.") Only Lauren did the "Expert" hills, and only a few times. She stayed with me for the most part! This hill was fun, but my favorite was definitely the middle one, since it took the longest to get down, and since there were so many options of which way to go down.

We both only fell once, and her fall was kind of my fault. There was a hill going down the back of the big guy that was labeled "Expert." However, as far as I could see, it looked like I could handle it. I had Lauren go down a little ways first to scope out the situation, and she told me that I probably wouldn't want to do it. So I said, "Ok, meet you at the bottom!" and skied down the back. When I got down there, Lauren was covered in snow. That back hill was mostly ice and she wiped out. I felt bad, but she was ok! My fall was just a little one – I was stopped halfway down a hill, ready to go down the rest when I just kind of toppled over. The hard part was getting up, though, and it took me a good two minutes to get back up!



We had such a fun day. Whenever Lauren and I get together, we just laugh and laugh and laugh. My cheeks hurt by the end of the day from laughing so much. We're both pretty obnoxious people, and while other people may think we're weird, we can just be ourselves when we're together! At one point, we were giggling so much that a lift operator did a double-take and said, "I thought it was two little kids getting on!" Yup, that's us. And proud of it.

I estimate we went up and down probably 35 times throughout our day … The lines for the lifts got a little long (long being maybe 5-8 minutes) in the middle of the day, but there were no lines again by 3:00 or so. We decided to go in around 4:00 – the sun was going down and we were getting really cold, and we were just beat.



Skiing is definitely something I want to make a point to do at least once a year. It's such a great feeling to sail down the hill and let the winter air hit your face. And when you're cold and tired at the end of the day, it's a cozy kind of cold and a good kind of tired. It's just awesome.

Skiing can be a pretty expensive sport to get into, but it's not too bad if you just do it a couple times a year. At Grand Geneva, an adult lift ticket for the day is $38, and boot and ski rental is $25. Lake Geneva is about an hour from Milwaukee.

It's been a pretty uneventful winter so far – skiing Sunday was definitely the highlight. Hopefully we don't have too much winter left, and this will have been the perfect note to end on!

Comments

[Erin]

YAY! It's up! With no mistakes! And it's only 9:30!

::: huge sigh of relief :::

[Lauren]

I had such a blast with you, Erin! Going down hills on sliders is always a good time, but hanging out with you and being the nerds we truely are made it way more fun! You are the bomb(er queen)!

[Mark]

Looks like you had a great time! But Grand Geneva looks like it doesn't really have that big of a hill... you should try Alpine next time. :)

[Amanda]

Oh Erin, your post today really had me thinking of the good ol' days at St. Charles Ski Days - I remember those crushes and boys you fondly recalled. Thanks for bringing me back to childhood momentarily - yet again. :)