My first Professions Ski Instructors Association/American Association of Snowboard Instructors (PSIA/AASI) was on my first Solo Ski Sojourn in Steamboat. It was in 2019. I was five years younger. It was the first national event I had ever attended. I had never been to Steamboat before. I had just begun the switch back to skiing, having snowboarded the previous fifteen years. I learned so much that first year and the women were so warm and welcoming, I vowed I would go every year.

The next year the Women’s Summit was held in Snowbird, UT. I made a few fast friends from that Summit, and a few of us have been getting together annually for the Skijourn Sisters trip. As I read my past posts on the Women’s Summit, I realize how far I have come in my skiing. Yes, I am on the back half of my 60s, on the cusp of 70s, but I still work at improving, getting better, being able to do more.

Last year I had my left hip replaced. I vowed I would only ski groomers. Easier, safer stuff. I have fallen off the wagon a few times and gone off piste, into a few trees, down some bumps. But nothing crazy, just breaking my promise a little bit.

This year we convened at Solitude, Utah. My vow to go every year got sidetracked. First Covid for a year, then it was out East and I couldn’t go, and then it was in the Pacific NW and I chose not to go.

But Solitude. On my path. I skied Solitude on one of the recent Solo Sojourns and met Adam who showed me the mountain. A million years ago Scot, Larry and I went to Brighton/Solitude spring skiing and yes, we skied in shorts.

Because of my hip, I chose a group that wanted to stay on groomers. Our clinician was Jill Chumbley from Big Sky! Just having someone from Montana warmed my heart to the core. Again, I was in a small group of 6-7 women who spanned the US. We had a National Ski Patroller in the group, and that was fun for sure.

We warmed up on groomers and on the second run one of our members fell avoiding another skier and was down for the count. She had to be taken in by the patrol, and we all skied with more caution after that.

It was a great day to warm up, get our mountain ski legs under us, and begin to bond. Then overnight we got 12” of snow. That’s a skier’s dream. We were all pumped for the snow.  We did a mix of groomed and powder skiing. We skied bumps and moguls that were like pillows. That second day the first female elected president of the National PSIA board skied with us. Eliza Kuntz is from—drum roll, please—Red Lodge, Montana!! We were throwing names and places out like crazy. Jill, Eliza and Elaine. All with Montana roots. I was in heaven.

One drawback to Solitude is the limited housing. The special rate rooms were snapped up quickly and I was out on a limb. The alternative was to drive Big Cottonwood Canyon and stay in Salt Lake area. Not optimal, as the canyons are avalanche prone. I had hustled to find a roomie, and Bettie Ball stepped up. She had a room right on the mountain so I snapped it up. And the best news? Bettie lives in Hawaii! She teaches one month a year in Breckenridge, Colorado. I think the next ski trip should be to Hawaii. Bettie is an inspiration and role model. She’s several years my senior, still so active, teaching, out with us all late at night and so much fun. I want to grow up to be like her😉

In fact, my guess is that 50% of the attendees were 55+. It makes sense. It is an expensive event, expensive rooms, food and drink are expensive even though two of the three included hors d’oeuvres nights would have been enough for supper. For most ski instructors the job is part time and pays minimum wage. The uniform might be comped, but the gear—skis, poles, helmet, goggles, gloves, layers—are not.

Clearly we are ski instructors because we love to ski and we love to teach. And maybe we’re waiting to find that eligible skier/boarder to ride the chairlift with.

One of the panel discussions included women in top leadership positions in the ski industry. They were Amber Broadaway, Solitude President & COO; Peggy Hiller, PSIA/AASI CEO; Kelly Pawlak, National Ski Area Association CEO; Stephanie Cox, Executive Director of National Ski Patrol; and Carol Levine, Certified level 3 Alpine, Demo team member emeritus, examiner and educator, legend in the industry.

The panel exemplified how women have made inroads into management. They all had stories of their personal struggles to rise and be recognized. It was interesting how similar our stories were and how personal our tactics were to cope. It was encouraging to see these women in power positions.

At the last evening’s raffle, I won a pair of Leki ski poles with the patented ski pole straps that click in and out of the pole handle. I had always wanted a pair—so fancy—but never wanted to spend the money. And that’s exactly what I won!! So lucky, right??

The Summit was coming to a close. The last day was a bluebird sunny sendoff. I was worried about the next leg of the trip—to Lake Tahoe—with a storm of the century coming towards us. I use the Open Snow App on my phone for weather predictions. The app and the weather channels were predicting six to ten FEET of snow in the Sierras, right where we were headed.   

On our last day of the Summit we were skiing some new terrain with the warm, sunny conditions, the mountain seemed transformed. Then our group was struck with bad luck again. Two women, one from my group and one from another, collided. One was a good friend of a Skijourn Sister. Three skis went flying, one ski remained on. Both women were shaken, one went off the mountain in a ski patrol toboggan.

 It shook me mentally more than I’d like to admit. I didn’t want to tempt fate. I had 587 miles to go to my next destination. A major storm was coming. I preferred to be snowed in rather than snowed out.

My good friend Cathy was driving with me to Tahoe and we decided to get a jump on the drive to beat the storm. We cut out of the Summit a couple hours early. I had planned on taking two days to make the 9 hour plus drive, but with Cathy as a driver, we decided to drive the entire way.

We loaded up the Little Blue Truck with two peoples’ gear and a plethora of memories, then pointed the truck West.