Thursday, January 31, 2008

Day 5

Wow. The kids have had a great lesson in adverse weather conditions on this trip. Today was another wild storm day and all the kids were amazing troopers! Cold, heavy snow and wind can wear out the hardiest skiers, especially when you happen to be so small in stature that the wind knocks you over! We all agree that it just makes you a better skier or boarder.

Time is limited so I'll probably have to finish my entries in Santa Barbara. It continues to snow heavily, however, and we don't know when -or if- we'll be leaving tomorrow. The word is that this latest storm will taper off tomorrow afternoon but we're hoping for a window of opportunity in the morning to get to Bishop.

I have additional ski pics and video to download but I wanted to end the evening with a great idea from Robert: Let the kids say in their own words why they love this trip and what it means to them. The following is a series of mini portraits with their thoughts. It's better than anything I could have written.

I also want to end the daily chronology the way I began: With thoughts of the members of this posse who could not make the trip this year. Rob, Vikki, Wayne: You will never know how much you were missed; This place is not the same without you. I hope this blog brought a little of the circus home to you, just as it reminded all of us how much more fun it is when you're here. Here's to Park City in 2009!

Finally, this thought: Special places are in part special because of shared experiences, good times with friends and family and all the history of annual trips that came before. Mammoth is such a place for us. The very word "Mammoth" evokes excited anticipation in the kid's hearts as early as the month of August. It isn't the geography, the real estate, the weather. It's "THE SKI TRIP"; the one that matters. There is no way to quantify the impact of those experiences in the life of a child, and that is the reason why the word Mammoth is synonymous with so many good things, and not just with the kids. One more memory for the bank, one more positive thought for the future. And one more reason to be a believer: Forever Mammoth!

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