As January has come to an end and after the Sundance Film Festival has left town for another year, it’s time to refocus on skiing and take stock of what we’ve been doing to keep up with our beloved activity. This is the time when it’s always refreshing to check how our skiing compares against any possible New Year resolutions involving technique learned, runs visited or just frequency.

While we are on the slippery subject of resolutions that relate to winter sports activities, mine were to ski at least a hundred times. A good, impressive number, but so far my activity on snow doesn’t seem to be on track to meeting this ambitious goal. Here’s the truth: At the end of January, I can only claim 28 times out skiing! This compares to a high number of 36 in 2010 and an average slightly over 30 times, each year since 2008.

Of course, there’s still time and I still harbor some hope to make it to the 100 mark, but this will take more dedication if I am to catch up and lower my ski day deficit. Deep inside, I know this will be tough; arithmetically, I better get out every day from now on. The problem is that, this season, there were just too many competing activities that have been ganging up on my serious resolution. For one thing, I am in the middle of a construction project that is moving too slowly for my taste and is literally devouring my skiing time. I hope it will get better, but it’s merely a hope, not a reasonable certainty!

This said, if I had lesser days of skiing, the ones I had were all exceptionally great.

While I missed the big “dump” on January 30, I recall three wonderful ski days that were nothing of exceptional. The first one happened on opening weekend. The new snow came just on time for celebrating Deer Valley’s new season and was indeed a sweet surprise. My second wonderful ski day happened on December 20, the very last day of fall. There was powder everywhere and it was as good as it ever gets on a snow day. I even ventured into “Son of Rattler,” which is not what I would rate as a “PG” run, but I had first tracks on that one, and to hard-core skiers, first tracks are always very special.

Then, as we turned into a brand new year, there was January 5th, the weekend the Mayflower chairlift opened up to the skiing public. The snow was nothing short of spectacular as we got to ski for the very first time into the entire snow depth that had accumulated since the beginning of the season.

I should also mention my first serious spill of the year, on January 31. I was minding my own business enjoying some new powder left from the day before just below Sultan Express top station. My two skis met a good size bump and they sent me head over heels on the snow below, giving me a full “face shot” I wasn’t expecting. It sure got my attention! All these unexpected and fun events take place through the whole winter at Deer Valley Resort if you make the effort to get out of your house and just show up for them!

Of course, in addition to these special occasions, they were all the other days during which everyone could enjoy the superlative grooming Deer Valley Resort is famous for. Blue bird days were almost the rule during January, a crispy, cool weather kept the snow just perfect. It was not too soft nor too hard; just in-between as a skiing Goldilock would have put it. I skied very fast, had tons of fun and my only regret is that I didn’t ski a few more days. Not so much because of my near obsession with my century goal, but because there is nothing better than a day spent on the hill.

Which reminds me, it’s now time for me to begin February on the right foot.

Time to go skiing now; goodbye!