Yesterday's skiing was "magical", as Clarke is found of saying. Sunny, warm, with loose granular snow, very little ice. There were few crowds and we were all feeling great. We went to the summit for the first time this year (4,600 ft) and just skied and skied. We don't venture all the way up to the summit too often - if conditions are at all windy or icy, it is certifiably scary. But days like today make me want to venture up more often. It is utterly spectacular. The runs are great and open and the view is breathtaking. We thought we'd stay for a few hours and head home but ended up about closing the place.
We will be back up in a few weeks to ready the house for the arrival of 16 of our closest friends. (Luckily our new friend Spyder Dupree will be renting us his cabin up the lane to help with the spillover!) For 13 years now, we get together with the same group of people (take or leave a few ex-girlfriends/boyfriends, one time visitors, busy teenagers) and rent a house to downhill/cross country, snowshoe, etc. We cook huge dinners and sit around the table until all hours. Truth be told, we consume a lot of frosty beer (chilling in a snow bank), brandy Manhattans (thanks Mark!) and have dabbled in fresh mango and rum snow cones, "pingha" - a roadside liquor from Brazil (with about 300 limes), Irish coffee, and various scotches over the years. We look forward to the trip all year and it's so much fun to see new marriages new babies, new careers, growing kids. I remember when Joe and I would take turns skiing while the other was on nap patrol, or toddler-chasing patrol. We'd be lucky to ski an hour or two the entire trip. I remember being exhausted, after skiing, and staying up late, and waking up with babies all night. I remember Joe's back being broken by skiing with toddlers between his legs. I remember pulling sleds around the foot of the mountain and the first time on a lift with Clarke. I pressed my arm over his chest, so scared he would just slip out, he was so little. Most of the years, the trip, which we still call Porkies Fest, was at the Porcupine Mountains in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, another magical place, far from civilization. The boys learned to ski there. It was so remote, never crowded with guaranteed great snow. If you can imagine driving 9 hours NORTH from Milwaukee, you can imagine how far north this place is. Right on the shores of Lake Superior, which looks like a scene from a horror film in the winter. The mountain has not much "vertical" or quantity of runs but perfect family skiing. We made a few trips to Gore Mountain with the group before we bought our house. (by the way, we had the absolute best house in Gore Mountain if anyone needs a recommendation). We always look for a place a little off the beaten path, as the big marquis resorts wouldn't fit in with vibe (or the budget). This is the first trip to Whiteface for many of our friends and it should be a blast. We are so grateful everyone is willing to fly across the country to check out The Barn. What do you think the chances are that the trapeze will not be in use? Stay tuned....
We didn't arrive until Saturday afternoon, which was a great excuse not to be productive or cook but just to chill out and ski. In our absence we had a freezing water pipe accident, but by the time we arrived on Saturday, Bill, our trusty neighbor, had not only fixed the pipes, but rerouted and insulated some problem areas. Each year we are making little improvements. 
