Opening weekend 2012 is officially finished and was successful in all areas. The storm that brought us 6″ of snow on opening day made everyone’s mood electric. I saw big smiles on everyone’s faces. Living in the mountains it is assumed that by December there will be snow on the ground. When the temperatures don’t allow for snow making and the landscape is bare, people start to get grumpy. So our snow storm arrived at the perfect time and was welcomed with open arms.

Opening weekend is paired with the Celebrity Skifest to benefit the Waterkeeper Alliance. In case you didn’t see it on CBS this past Sunday, it’s a celebration of skiing and promotes a great cause, clean water. It was the same musketeers (ahem, skiers), Phil & Steve Mahre, Tommy Moe and me, as in years past. I think I can safely say that we all had a great time and we each skied as fast as we could to beat each other. The competitive adrenaline never goes away.

There’s something to be said when we all get together. Whether we have shared the same experience of winning an Olympic medal or being at the top of our sport; we have respect for each other and admiration. (Maybe a little more from me towards them.) Whenever I work with these guys and others from the ‘good old days,’ I always have a smile on my face and truly feel blessed that I can still be involved and work with these amazing, successful athletes.

One of the stand-out memories of opening weekend was the Melissa Etheridge benefit concert on Saturday evening at The Montage. WOW, what a voice. She doesn’t even have to sing to know her voice is powerful. She played 7-8 songs and brought the house down.  It was amazing to be so close to someone as they performed. I know I will probably never be able to get that close to a performer at a concert again.

Now that opening weekend is behind us, I have some friends arriving today for 48 hours to
celebrate 12-12-12. I know this date is a neat one, but for a teammate of mine, it represents 25 years from when she had a horrific racing accident. I don’t think there is a better way to celebrate life, as 10 of us old Ski Team-ers get together to ski. I can’t tell you where we will be but you’ll hear us whooping and yelling!

See you on the slopes and keep snow dancing!