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ESA Aspen Snowmass
- Thread starter NannyMin
- Start date
IntheClouds
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Yeah ! Hope all our landings aren't sketchy ! See you tommorrow, wish I could say with bells on but more like , I won't go there. Have a great ski day tommorrow.
NannyMin
Banned
Wow, what a great time we all had at Snowmass! Since I'm sitting bored on a plane I thought I would do a trip report.
Saturday, I got up nice and early ready to attack Snowmass! What a gorgeous day it was, bright and sunny with that distinctively brilliant Colorado snow! I skied for a while by myself getting to know the mountain and doing some drills. While sitting in the lodge having a drink I met a really nice lady who was skiing Snowmass with a group from Maine. She was SO excited to hear about SkiDiva! Lisa, if you are reading this introduce yourself! I spent the rest of the afternoon skiing with a group of women that I met on the lift. Once again, I spread the SkiDiva news! I really think I need to do something about being so shy...don't you?
That afternoon, IntheClouds flew in. Unfortunately, she brought a nasty cold with her (which would then turn into a cold & AMS...yuck! You were a trouper IntheClouds!). abc then arrived and we went out for a quick bite to eat.
Bright and early Sunday morning abc and I met QuiverQueen at Aspen and had breakfast together mid-mountain. We then continued on to the good stuff... exploring Ajax! QuiverQueen as our fearless leader led the way touring around the gorgeous trees! After a almost full day of skiing we headed back to Snowmass for our ESA welcome party where we mingled, met our coach and team mates, and listened to Weems explain the diamond. I was quite excited to be put into a group of all women with the exception of our coach Shaunzy (Jim Shanzenbaker) a diamond pro at Snowmass. Our group consisted of IntheClouds, myself, Mrs. Bumpdad (the wife of a fellow bear), Michelle (who should be checking in her soon!), LisaMarie (for part of the time, then she joined a different group that wasn't as obsessed about moguls as we were!
Sorry LisaMarie we are OBSESSED!) and Hiromi, I've got to tell you we had the BEST group at ESA hands down! What a bunch of supportive, wise, silly and hilariously sarcastic women! I don't think that Shaunzy knew what hit him.... we called him our "Queen Bee" with his bright yellow jacket. His nicknames for me were "A" because I am so, so, so type A, and "wall girl" because I like to ski up and down the walls kind of like a half pipe. After our party we joined a bunch of bears in watching a football game while waiting for our group reservations. However, with IntheClouds so ill we finally decided to ditch the guys and go get a small table just for us so we could be seated and served faster.
Yippee! Monday morning dawned cold and snowing! We quickly did a few warm up runs with a couple of other groups to make sure we were compatible as group in terms of level, speed, group dynamics...etc. Then came the, oh so fun first day video! Why do I get so nervous about that?
Weems started us off by doing some wackadoodle turns and in general just acting like a goof to break the tension. The first couple of ladies cruised down with no problem and I being a bit of a show off decided I was going to rip it. I started down the run with no problem cruising along and then when I got to the bottom I was so excited that I some how sat back on my skis, spun around a few times on my back and then proceeded to flip my skis over my head and somersault until I double ejected.... right in front of Weems, Nolo and ssh....nice way to make a great impression. Shaunzy was quite pleased that he caught it all on video! So, after our "Queen Bee" watched our video runs he decided we all needed to work on getting our tails downhill and play with the polar opposites of stability and mobility and fast and slow. IntheClouds wasn't feeling well so after a run she headed back to the hotel. We spent the majority of the day working on this. After our last run we went to have a pow wow time with our group and some refreshments. IntheClouds and I then joined Mr. & Mrs. BumpDad for dinner at the J-Bar in Aspen. Travelers hint, they have great Truffle Fries.
Tuesday was definitely our breakthrough moguls day. We started our morning off going to Buttermilk with ssh joining us, so we could catch some first tracks. We basically had the place to ourselves. Wow, what amazing Aspen trees they have! We worked on getting our tail downhill before planting and pivoting. We did some really fun and easy tree runs. Buttermilk was in full swing getting setup for the X-Games so we got to see some of the insider stuff. After a delicious Mongolian stir fry for lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for Highlands. Bumps galore, we were a happy group. It was so fun to see some of the other ladies overcome their fear of a black bump run! Most of the ladies were also attempting to do the on the ground 360s by the end of the day also. These are great for feeling when your ski is on edge or flat.
Before dinner Mrs. BumpDad & I were very excited to get our SBS shims done by Eric Ward (Mosh) and some canting done by Bud. Mrs. BumpDad had the most extreme shims that Eric had ever seen! SBS has completely changed how she skis. It is incredible. before you could see that it was very difficult for her to get her skis on edge and she would have to do some unneccessary body movements in order to get them there. Now, it looks effortless!
Unfortunately, after Bud finished my canting and making some other minor adjustments he told me I would most likely have to get my shims redone due to the canting. He suggested that I ski them on Wednesday and if I agreed with what he thought then to meet with Eric again.
Unfortunately, due to the priority of getting my boots worked on, I missed the Coaches Panel. We then all headed out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Snowmass.
Wednesday was Aspen day. I love Ajax!
We found this really cool gully that we all loved! What a fun run...too bad we can't remember where it is! :ROTF:
After going through the torture of buckling and unbuckling my boots all morning, due to pain and that distracting pins and needles feeling, my feet finally started to settle down and I was excited to ski without pain. I ran into Eric during lunch and arranged to meet him bright and early in the morning to change out my shims. We spent the afternoon fluctuating from working skiing with a flat ski vs. carving and playing in the moguls. After finishing up with our group Michelle and I decided to run for gondola one more time. We made it just in the knick of time and jumped on. We both were so glad to cruise down our last run of the day after working on bumps.
We hurried to change into street shoes and to run for the bus. As I pulled off my boot I discovered I had absolutely no feeling in my right foot. Distracted we made our way to the bus and settled in for relaxing ride back to Snowmass. When I got back to my hotel room I pulled off my ski sock and discovered that my right foot didn't look normal. It was whitish/grayish and kind of shiny. After a quick call to Mr. & Mrs BumpDad (he is a GI doctor and she is an RN) they recommended I soak it in room temp water. I did as suggested and after about 20 minutes or so 2 of my toes were covered with blood blisters and I was in agony. Now a bit alarmed I went across the street to the Family Practice clinic where they took a quick look and said I needed to head directly to the ER. So, my plans to eat with QuiverQueen, Rachel27, IntheClouds and abc were thrown out the window and I headed to the ER. Once there, the ER doc diagnosed me with 3rd degree frostbite on two toes and 2nd degree frostbit on two others. After, finishing the thawing process (I highly recommend you avoid going through this...not fun :Cry: ), having the blisters that had clear fluid cleaned out, getting some IV fluids and meds., dressing my toes, and getting prescriptions for antibiotics, ointments, anti-inflammitories and narcotics, I was ready to go home around 8 hours later. Luckily for me Morphine makes me hyper so I packed all my luggage and organized myself for the trip home.
Thursday I trudged over to Eric's shop early to meet with him. After attempting to get a ski boot on my right foot I gave up it was way, way, way too painful/swollen and so I was the gaper in Snowmass mall walking around with one ski boot and one street boot. As a testiment to the power of drugs, though, I have to say I didn't even care!
While I was waiting for Eric to show up at his shop I ran into Robin Barnes. After filling her in with what had happened I told her that I thought I could maybe ski with my bottom buckles completely undone (not exactly what had been recommended by ER Physician 
). She too has had 3rd degree frostbite and shared the oh so fun news that she was in pain for months. She wisely coerced me to take the day off. I knew she was right, it wasn't worth risking further damage to the tissues. Despite being really disappointed I quickly reframed my day including a bit of shopping. There's nothing like shopping to put you in a better mood right?
Finally, Eric and Bud showed up and quickly assessed what needed to be done. Eric made new shims for me that were the correct measurements and much thinner and then cut out the toe bed of the shim completely giving my poor toes abit . I managed to get my right foot in the boot for about 10 seconds so I could do one last measurement. Unfortunately, I a total wimp and couldn't take it Eric kindly pulled/ripped it off avoiding the not so nice words that were about to come out of my mouth.
I stuck around and did some MA with our group and then they headed out to the slopes without me. :(
Later on I met up with everyone on the hill for a picnic. I convinced the nice lifty that it would be much easier and less embarressing for me to let me ride up the chair rather than take a snowmobile. The picnic was so fun to see everyone together, enjoy the BBQ and do the famous ESA raffle.
Until next year's ESA Aspen Snowmass......
Saturday, I got up nice and early ready to attack Snowmass! What a gorgeous day it was, bright and sunny with that distinctively brilliant Colorado snow! I skied for a while by myself getting to know the mountain and doing some drills. While sitting in the lodge having a drink I met a really nice lady who was skiing Snowmass with a group from Maine. She was SO excited to hear about SkiDiva! Lisa, if you are reading this introduce yourself! I spent the rest of the afternoon skiing with a group of women that I met on the lift. Once again, I spread the SkiDiva news! I really think I need to do something about being so shy...don't you?
That afternoon, IntheClouds flew in. Unfortunately, she brought a nasty cold with her (which would then turn into a cold & AMS...yuck! You were a trouper IntheClouds!). abc then arrived and we went out for a quick bite to eat.
Bright and early Sunday morning abc and I met QuiverQueen at Aspen and had breakfast together mid-mountain. We then continued on to the good stuff... exploring Ajax! QuiverQueen as our fearless leader led the way touring around the gorgeous trees! After a almost full day of skiing we headed back to Snowmass for our ESA welcome party where we mingled, met our coach and team mates, and listened to Weems explain the diamond. I was quite excited to be put into a group of all women with the exception of our coach Shaunzy (Jim Shanzenbaker) a diamond pro at Snowmass. Our group consisted of IntheClouds, myself, Mrs. Bumpdad (the wife of a fellow bear), Michelle (who should be checking in her soon!), LisaMarie (for part of the time, then she joined a different group that wasn't as obsessed about moguls as we were!
Sorry LisaMarie we are OBSESSED!) and Hiromi, I've got to tell you we had the BEST group at ESA hands down! What a bunch of supportive, wise, silly and hilariously sarcastic women! I don't think that Shaunzy knew what hit him.... we called him our "Queen Bee" with his bright yellow jacket. His nicknames for me were "A" because I am so, so, so type A, and "wall girl" because I like to ski up and down the walls kind of like a half pipe. After our party we joined a bunch of bears in watching a football game while waiting for our group reservations. However, with IntheClouds so ill we finally decided to ditch the guys and go get a small table just for us so we could be seated and served faster. Yippee! Monday morning dawned cold and snowing! We quickly did a few warm up runs with a couple of other groups to make sure we were compatible as group in terms of level, speed, group dynamics...etc. Then came the, oh so fun first day video! Why do I get so nervous about that?
Weems started us off by doing some wackadoodle turns and in general just acting like a goof to break the tension. The first couple of ladies cruised down with no problem and I being a bit of a show off decided I was going to rip it. I started down the run with no problem cruising along and then when I got to the bottom I was so excited that I some how sat back on my skis, spun around a few times on my back and then proceeded to flip my skis over my head and somersault until I double ejected.... right in front of Weems, Nolo and ssh....nice way to make a great impression. Shaunzy was quite pleased that he caught it all on video! So, after our "Queen Bee" watched our video runs he decided we all needed to work on getting our tails downhill and play with the polar opposites of stability and mobility and fast and slow. IntheClouds wasn't feeling well so after a run she headed back to the hotel. We spent the majority of the day working on this. After our last run we went to have a pow wow time with our group and some refreshments. IntheClouds and I then joined Mr. & Mrs. BumpDad for dinner at the J-Bar in Aspen. Travelers hint, they have great Truffle Fries. Tuesday was definitely our breakthrough moguls day. We started our morning off going to Buttermilk with ssh joining us, so we could catch some first tracks. We basically had the place to ourselves. Wow, what amazing Aspen trees they have! We worked on getting our tail downhill before planting and pivoting. We did some really fun and easy tree runs. Buttermilk was in full swing getting setup for the X-Games so we got to see some of the insider stuff. After a delicious Mongolian stir fry for lunch we hopped on the bus and headed for Highlands. Bumps galore, we were a happy group. It was so fun to see some of the other ladies overcome their fear of a black bump run! Most of the ladies were also attempting to do the on the ground 360s by the end of the day also. These are great for feeling when your ski is on edge or flat.
Before dinner Mrs. BumpDad & I were very excited to get our SBS shims done by Eric Ward (Mosh) and some canting done by Bud. Mrs. BumpDad had the most extreme shims that Eric had ever seen! SBS has completely changed how she skis. It is incredible. before you could see that it was very difficult for her to get her skis on edge and she would have to do some unneccessary body movements in order to get them there. Now, it looks effortless!
Unfortunately, after Bud finished my canting and making some other minor adjustments he told me I would most likely have to get my shims redone due to the canting. He suggested that I ski them on Wednesday and if I agreed with what he thought then to meet with Eric again. Unfortunately, due to the priority of getting my boots worked on, I missed the Coaches Panel. We then all headed out for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Snowmass.
Wednesday was Aspen day. I love Ajax!
We found this really cool gully that we all loved! What a fun run...too bad we can't remember where it is! :ROTF:
After going through the torture of buckling and unbuckling my boots all morning, due to pain and that distracting pins and needles feeling, my feet finally started to settle down and I was excited to ski without pain. I ran into Eric during lunch and arranged to meet him bright and early in the morning to change out my shims. We spent the afternoon fluctuating from working skiing with a flat ski vs. carving and playing in the moguls. After finishing up with our group Michelle and I decided to run for gondola one more time. We made it just in the knick of time and jumped on. We both were so glad to cruise down our last run of the day after working on bumps.
We hurried to change into street shoes and to run for the bus. As I pulled off my boot I discovered I had absolutely no feeling in my right foot. Distracted we made our way to the bus and settled in for relaxing ride back to Snowmass. When I got back to my hotel room I pulled off my ski sock and discovered that my right foot didn't look normal. It was whitish/grayish and kind of shiny. After a quick call to Mr. & Mrs BumpDad (he is a GI doctor and she is an RN) they recommended I soak it in room temp water. I did as suggested and after about 20 minutes or so 2 of my toes were covered with blood blisters and I was in agony. Now a bit alarmed I went across the street to the Family Practice clinic where they took a quick look and said I needed to head directly to the ER. So, my plans to eat with QuiverQueen, Rachel27, IntheClouds and abc were thrown out the window and I headed to the ER. Once there, the ER doc diagnosed me with 3rd degree frostbite on two toes and 2nd degree frostbit on two others. After, finishing the thawing process (I highly recommend you avoid going through this...not fun :Cry: ), having the blisters that had clear fluid cleaned out, getting some IV fluids and meds., dressing my toes, and getting prescriptions for antibiotics, ointments, anti-inflammitories and narcotics, I was ready to go home around 8 hours later. Luckily for me Morphine makes me hyper so I packed all my luggage and organized myself for the trip home.
Thursday I trudged over to Eric's shop early to meet with him. After attempting to get a ski boot on my right foot I gave up it was way, way, way too painful/swollen and so I was the gaper in Snowmass mall walking around with one ski boot and one street boot. As a testiment to the power of drugs, though, I have to say I didn't even care!
While I was waiting for Eric to show up at his shop I ran into Robin Barnes. After filling her in with what had happened I told her that I thought I could maybe ski with my bottom buckles completely undone (not exactly what had been recommended by ER Physician ). She too has had 3rd degree frostbite and shared the oh so fun news that she was in pain for months. She wisely coerced me to take the day off. I knew she was right, it wasn't worth risking further damage to the tissues. Despite being really disappointed I quickly reframed my day including a bit of shopping. There's nothing like shopping to put you in a better mood right? Finally, Eric and Bud showed up and quickly assessed what needed to be done. Eric made new shims for me that were the correct measurements and much thinner and then cut out the toe bed of the shim completely giving my poor toes abit . I managed to get my right foot in the boot for about 10 seconds so I could do one last measurement. Unfortunately, I a total wimp and couldn't take it Eric kindly pulled/ripped it off avoiding the not so nice words that were about to come out of my mouth.
I stuck around and did some MA with our group and then they headed out to the slopes without me. :( Later on I met up with everyone on the hill for a picnic. I convinced the nice lifty that it would be much easier and less embarressing for me to let me ride up the chair rather than take a snowmobile. The picnic was so fun to see everyone together, enjoy the BBQ and do the famous ESA raffle.
Until next year's ESA Aspen Snowmass......
Sounds like a great trip, aside from the frostbite ! Question, though: weren't you aware there was a problem while you were skiing? I've never had frostbite -- hope I never do -- but I'm wondering how it can occur without your being aware of it. I mean, you must've been really, really cold, weren't you ?
So how's your foot now?
! Question, though: weren't you aware there was a problem while you were skiing? I've never had frostbite -- hope I never do -- but I'm wondering how it can occur without your being aware of it. I mean, you must've been really, really cold, weren't you ?So how's your foot now?
ski now work later
Angel Diva
Holy s--t NannyMin! That sounds really painful. I'm glad you had so much good skiing before it happened (and can you post that great stunt you did for the video camera) and I hope your foot heals very, very soon so you can get back on skis, especially by Diva Day in late February~ Keep us posted, ok?
And InTheClouds, are you ok? Were you able to participate in much of the workshop or were you too ill? Hope you're feeling better.
And InTheClouds, are you ok? Were you able to participate in much of the workshop or were you too ill? Hope you're feeling better.
Lori_K
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow, what an exciting week, NannyMin! I bet you could have done without the excitement of frostbite, though. :( I'm with the other girls-- did you have any indication that your toes/feet were getting too cold? I've not had frostbite either, but get cold toes and fingers often enough.
Sounds like a great time. I'm going to have to make it out for one of the ESA events one of these years...!
Sounds like a great time. I'm going to have to make it out for one of the ESA events one of these years...!
Ski Spirit
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Thanks for the trip report, NannyMin! I'm thinking about Big Sky ESA, so I appreciate the details.
Wow, sorry to hear about the frost bite. Also curious about sensing it beforehand. I've never had frost bite like the others and would hope to avoid your painful experience!!
In the Clouds, really sorry to hear you were so sick!!!
Hope you are better and it was good an experience for you as possible given circumstances!!! Email me when you're better...........!
Wow, sorry to hear about the frost bite. Also curious about sensing it beforehand. I've never had frost bite like the others and would hope to avoid your painful experience!!
In the Clouds, really sorry to hear you were so sick!!!
Hope you are better and it was good an experience for you as possible given circumstances!!! Email me when you're better...........!
IntheClouds
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Clouds checking in. Oh my gosh, I was out of my mind from Saturday's arrival until 07:00 Tues a.m. unable to function or think straight due to the altitude illness. Thanks to NannyMin, Monday night she reminded me of the altitude doctor at ESA. As I tearfully went thru my symptoms with him, we came to a treatment plan.
STEROIDS. Went into Aspen for dinner 3 bears,Nannymin & picked up the drugs at the pharmacy. Fell asleep at 04:30 a.m. Tues, woke up 2 hrs later & could finally function & go skiing. I have my mind back & body healing quickly. But I did take it a bit easier than my group did. I'd missed a day & 1/2 of instruction as well as the physical deprivation/condition of 3 days of Alt.illness. Please, no one say anything about prevention to me. I'm allergic to the preventative drug. But Ginkgo is a possible if started several days earlier. May/maynot work for the future but a worthwhile try.
It's sunny - heading over to ski Buttermilk, take photos & watch the X-Games !
So glad to hear from you and that you're feeling better. Boy, you and NM have been through the mill! This skiing is tough stuff!
BTW, that altitude prevention drug is awful! My husband took it once and it made him dizzy, disoriented, and just plain lousy feeling.
Hope you enjoyed the day today. You deserve it.
BTW, that altitude prevention drug is awful! My husband took it once and it made him dizzy, disoriented, and just plain lousy feeling.
Hope you enjoyed the day today. You deserve it.
num
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Glad you're feeling better, InTheClouds. Sounds like you and NannyMin had it rough! Hope you heal up well, NannyMin.
ESA must've been pretty great for you guys to have AMS and second and third degree frostbite and still have plenty of good things to say about your trips.
ESA must've been pretty great for you guys to have AMS and second and third degree frostbite and still have plenty of good things to say about your trips.
ski now work later
Angel Diva
So glad you checked in and sorry to hear how awfully sick you were! Is it Diamox that you're allergic to. It's a sulfa drug I think, so allergies are common.... Hope you enjoyed the X-games!
NannyMin
Banned
Question, though: weren't you aware there was a problem while you were skiing? I've never had frostbite -- hope I never do -- but I'm wondering how it can occur without your being aware of it. I mean, you must've been really, really cold, weren't you
It was really a combination of me actually using the second buckle on the boots and the cold. I had been alternating times of buckling and unbuckling the 2nd buckle based on my pain tolerance the previous 4 days of skiing. The difference that day was that I had just had shims put into the boots which took up more room in the boot, which meant my foot was more compressed effectively cutting of blood flow. Finally, before lunch of the day that it happened, I remember thinking that it was great that it was buckled and didn't feel uncomfortable. We had been doing bump runs just before lunch and I think that I was so focused on perfecting this skill that I must have blocked out the pain.
In retrospect, I think that I had lost all sensation at that point. I didn't unbuckle my boots again until around 4pm that day, a good 4.5 hours later. I guess I thought this was a semi normal part of the process of getting my boots tweaked and I knew I was headed for Eric's shop the next morning so I was pushing to get through the day. I now know very differently. Going forward I would immediately get the books worked on to eliminate the problem. It wasn't extremely cold that day, but, I did wait at the bottom of runs frequently waiting for other members of our group. Standing around certainly didn't help things.
I spiked a fever earlier today, so I'm back in the hospital until at least Sunday. My doctor gave me the craziest look when I asked how soon I could be skiing again!
Thank goodness one of my good friends brought me my laptop and some other things.
Good friends are the best! If any of my posts are really crazy during this time I'm blaming it on all the drugs! My spelling has definitely seen better days
NannyMin
Banned
I've emailed Shaunzy requesting the video, so hopefully I will get it soon and you can share in the laughter.
MaineSkiLady
Angel Diva
What a story, nm!! Hopefully, your positive energy will help you sail through what ordinarily is a pretty nasty little predicament. Take care of those toes!! And ITC, poor dear, so glad you checked in to let us know you've survived your ordeal.
Both of you, take care of yourselves!!
Hopefully, your positive energy will help you sail through what ordinarily is a pretty nasty little predicament. Take care of those toes!! And ITC, poor dear, so glad you checked in to let us know you've survived your ordeal. Both of you, take care of yourselves!!
Robyn
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I spiked a fever earlier today, so I'm back in the hospital until at least Sunday. My doctor gave me the craziest look when I asked how soon I could be skiing again!
Holy, smokes, you're hospitalized? For 2 nights? Nanny, girl, please be careful.
Oh, and InTheClouds, I'm glad you survived your ordeal as well.
NannyMin
Banned
Thanks SkiDiva.
It is because the area is now infected, despite the antibiotics.
Poor guy! :(
It is because the area is now infected, despite the antibiotics.
Poor guy! :(
