OK guys, as requested by Rooster....
I was a fairly decent snow skier and had been going with this fine ski bunny for several months...I made reservations for us at Lake Tahoe and we were all set to go when she broke her ankle riding her son's skateboard...She was done skiing for awhile.
Well, she talked me into going without her (the deposit was not refundable at the lodge) so I flew up to Tahoe for a few days of skiing at Heavenly Mountain Resort, by myself....I had bought new gear for the trip, both for skinning the slopes, and lounging around the fire when the skiing was done for the day.
I eventually went to the lodges communal hot tub, which was where most of the people were gathering for stimulating conversations and whatever...The whatever was pretty damn good from where I set in the hot tub...Again, I was alone, so I mostly just set as low as I could go in the bubbling water, and just observed...
The girls at the tub were "very aggressive" with their husbands or boyfriends...Probably brought on by the liquor they were drinking and the high altitude...They did not care who was watching, so I did not want to disturb their public amorous ways...That would have been rude of me....
The next day I recognized one of the young ladies from the tub (she was single with friends) as she was getting into a lift line...She had the kind of shape, great butt, that has always driven me half mad....I just casually got in line about 2 chairs behind her. I did not know this was a double black diamond chair lift..I noticed the lift kept going up and up, and we were above the tall pine trees.....
When it came time to ski out of the end of the lift, I knew I was in trouble...The girl I had been following had disappeared into the mountain mist, and I was alone at the top of a mountain slope/run I had no business being on...This run was way above my skill level, and I knew it too...
I did the only logical thing I could do...I pulled over out of the main ski trail and adjusted my ski boots...In reality, I was just buying time hoping I would suddenly somehow materialize back at the lodge...Of course, it did not happen...
It took me the better part of 2 hours to get down that double diamond trail...I would ski a bit and then sort of throw myself into the soft snow if I got going too fast; which was way too often....I tried stopping like I normally did, but the speed and steep trail degrees would just flip me over, again and again, so I just learned to throw myself down....It was safer than being flipped over...
Finally a ranger from the Resort showed up with a snow cart for bringing down injured skiers...He said people had reported this guy (me) in trouble on the slope...I was so embarrassed, but still had my pride...
I told him I would ski down with him if he did not go too fast, which he agreed to do....After all, he was dragging a snow cart behind him, so he was limited, but man he sure could ski.
He was a cool guy and I told him how I happened to get on the wrong lift...I described the girl and what she was wearing that day, plus her shapely backside...
He told me who she was, especially by the backside comment, and she was on the U.S. Olympic Ski Team...She was a downhill Alpine specialist...She could ski circles around him...She was a pros pro. Man, did I feel dumb...I eventually saw her on a winter Olympics' broadcast...She was fantastic.
Incidentally, Heavenly Meadow is where Sonny Bono got going to fast on a slope and hit a tree and died...Skiing is very fun, but always dangerous.
