I’m done.

My ski season is over.

Even though they’re still getting loads of snow out West, it’s time for me to dress my skis in their summer coats.

I know, it’s sad.

We didn’t have the best season here in the East. My first ski day wasn’t until December 7, and my last, April 1 (no foolin’!).  I’ve had years when I started in mid-November and skied til the middle of April, so this year is shorter on both ends. But temps are soaring into the seventies, there are rocks and bare spots on the trails, the snow is receding like a senior citizen’s gum line.

Still, I shouldn’t complain. I know with 63 ski days, I’ve skied more than a lot of people this year. And even though the snow may not have been the best, I’ve had a great season. Here are some of the highlights:

• New skis! It was a Volkl sort of year. I got two pair: the Volkl Tierras and the Volkl Auras, and seriously, I love them both. The Tierras ride ice like they’re on rails, yet can still bust through crud and several inches of powder like nobody’s business. Easy to turn, great energy, just plain fun. The Auras, well, what can I say. A 94 waist so you can take them in the pow, yet it’s still a great all around ski.
• A trip to Schweitzer in northern Idaho. A terrific area that’s not on a lot of eastern skiers’ radar. I spent 4 days there at the end of January, and I definitely intend to go back.
• Diva Week in Tahoe. Why haven’t I been here before? Tahoe is incredible: phenomenal terrain, great snow, loads of ski areas within a (relatively) short driving distance. We managed to hit Squaw, Alpine Meadows, Sugar Bowl, and Northstar. And skiing with the women from TheSkiDiva.com during our annual gathering was icing on the cake. A trip to remember.
• The first ever TheSkiDiva.com clinic.  We teamed up with NASTC, the North American Ski Training Center, for three days of instruction in Tahoe. NASTC is one of the world’s premier ski clinic organizations, and it’s easy to see why. The caliber of their coaches is second to none.
• The release of DOUBLE BLACK: A SKI DIVA MYSTERY.  Yep, I wrote a book. It’s ski mystery, published by Minotaur, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press, and it came out in January. In the words of Tasha Alexander, author of TEARS OF PEARL and A FATAL WALTZ:  “DOUBLE BLACK is the literary equivalent of a perfect powder day:  small town Vermont, characters who feel like old friends, and enough suspense to make closing the book before you’ve finished nothing short of impossible.”