I’ve just come back from Diva East, the annual gathering for members of TheSkiDiva.com in the eastern US.
As usual, it was fabulous. This year we spent a couple days at Stowe Mountain Resort, followed by a day at Sugarbush, both in Vermont.
A few years ago we had a meet-up at Sugarloaf, Maine, where temperatures plummeted to a teeth chattering minus twenty-something. It was so cold that on one of the days, they closed just about everything on the mountain. Then last year, a few of us Divas went on a memorable Ski Safari thoughout New England (ten mountains in ten days!); again, the temperatures sank to well below zero.
Temperatures at our gathering this year year weren’t quite that bad. Thanks to the return of the Polar Vortex, we skied in single digits with below zero wind chills. Still, we kept on keeping on.
My point is that some people think that women skiers are a weaker breed. That we’ll only go out under optimal circumstances, when the sky is blue, the temperatures relatively balmy, and the trails groomed just so. I’m not saying that people like that don’t exist. They do. And yes, they’re both women and men.
But we Ski Divas will go out in just about anything, as long as skiing’s involved. The key: lots of layers, hand warmers, boot warmers, face masks, and anything down. It’s an extra plus if there’s a gondola on the way up.
Anyway, here are some pics from Diva East. If you’re a Ski Diva living on the east coast, or a western Ski Diva who wants to experience eastern skiing, I hope you’ll join us next year. It’s always a blast (and no, it’s not always so cold).
From the summit, at Stowe:
Divas on the hill. Note how bundled up we all are:
From the base of Spruce Peak, looking toward Mount Mansfield:
Thank God for the gondola at Stowe, which kept us out of the wind on the way to the top:
