xmas skiing

Tech note:

When calibrating instant-read thermometers (you know, the kind we all have for checking the internal temperature of meat and other things?) at Lake Tahoe, water still freezes at 32F (duh!), but it boils at 199F (at 7000 feet). You docheck the calibration of your meat your thermometer before you use it, don't you?

We drove up on Friday early enough to avoid the 8 hour nightmare that others experienced. We brought up leftovers for dinner (lasagne) and bagels for breakfast so we could just cuddle up with a slice of marionberry pie (form Ikeda's in Auburn) and a glass of Madeira (V. Sattui) before bed. I went skiing the next couple of days while Mary lazed about the cabin recovering from a cold. On Monday, we both went to Tahoe-Donner XC for a beautiful day of skiing the trails of the Euer Valley.
	The weather turned cloudy and cold but that just made the skiing better... Appearently, I got excited and couldn't limit myself to the groomed trails. That's me (to the left), going where no Bob has gone before.
Later in the week, we drove down to Tahoe XC (near the lake). There's a black diamond trail there with some fabulous views of the lake: Whatever that is, it's south of Diamond Peak...	You can see all the way to Kirkwood!
Here, I'm demonstrating my perfect V2 technique (NOT) while wearing a stylish hand-knit cap from Jamie Wang (WAY).

After skiing for 8 person-days, we were tired and drove home before the next storm. We'll be back.