Visit Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum in Vail

Mention that you’re from Colorado, and one of the first questions you might field is “Do you ski?” The state of Colorado is synonymous with skiing; and Colorado has produced some of the world’s best skiers, coaches, and alpine resorts.
Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame in Vail, Colorado, showcases an educational and entertaining look at the history and heritage of the snow sports in the Centennial State. Located in the Vail Village parking structure, the nonprofit museum does not charge admission, but appreciates donations and members. Stop in any day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. to gain a historic perspective on the development of the ski industry in Colorado, followed by snowboarding.
The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum collection includes charming vintage photographs, early ski outfits, and rustic equipment. You’ll appreciate how much your skis, boots, and poles have developed.
The museum educates visitors about when and how skiing debuted in Colorado, various recreational and practical applications of skiing, and the development of snowboarding.
A tribute to brave veterans, the museum dedicates an area to the 10th Mountain Division, a skiing branch of the U.S. military that played an important role in World War II.
The Hall of Fame spotlights outstanding skiers, riders, and developers.
The Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum also includes a wonderful gift shop with ski and snowboard related merchandise: ski posters, decorative items, and books. You’ll find copies of my new book, “Laid-Back Skier” for sale in the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Museum, and proceeds from book sales benefit the museum and hall of fame.
And you’ll find much more information on Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum’s cool website.
The museum and the website honor that special something inherent in the human spirit, the spark that inspires us to play in the snow, harness gravity, and rise to the challenges of the mountain.



Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum and Hall of Fame
P. O. Box 1976
231 S. Frontage Rd. East
Vail, CO 81657
www.skimuseum.net
970-476-1876
Open Daily 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Free Admission, Donations Appreciated
skimuseumshoppe@gmail.com

LAID-BACK SKIER: Ski Bunny Illustrations by Patty Leidy, a Facebook Friend

Here's a link to a gallery of "Laid-Back Skier" illustrations by Patty Leidy - see her self-portrait at right.

Below, one of the earliest ski bunnies by Patty Leidy for "Laid-Back Skier."

And here's the tale wagging of how these ski bunnies came to be:

When I was preparing to publish my first novel, "Glass Halo," Jesse - one of the Friday Jones Players - opened a Facebook page for me. I was upset. I had railed against Facebook without really knowing what it was. "I don't have time for Facebook," I argued. "Besides which, I like my privacy."

Jesse gave me one of his sage young adult looks and said, "If you want to sell this book, you have to have a Facebook page," he said.

Jesse is wise, so I said "Okay." But I left the Facebook page dormant for months.

Until another Friday Jones Player, Josie, told me, "You really need to get into Facebook." Josie is wise, too, but I dug in my heels. "Things will happen on Facebook that you would never expect," Josie said.

So I jumped into the Facebook vortex. And how! I post regularly now, and I enjoy Facebook, I admit. Jesse was right: Facebook helped sell my "Glass Halo." My first novel reached readers I knew only through Facebook.

Moreoever, I met the illustrator for my second book - "Laid-Back Skier" - on Facebook. I'm not sure how Patty Leidy and I got connected, but I began noticing her "Cafe Neurotic" comics on Facebook. I loved Patty's style and the fact that she is a fan of bacon and cupcakes. Her gags made me smile and sometimes even LOL. Mostly, I admired Patty's artful drawing. Genius flows through the ink in her pen.

When I figured out that Patty lived in Denver, as do I, I messaged her about the possibility of commissioning her to do some drawings for the ski book I envisioned. Yes, she was interested!

At our first meeting, I explained my idea for "Laid-Back Skier." She showed me her sketchbooks: Moleskin books filled with doodles and drawings in a wide range of styles.

Patty and I began meeting at the coffee court outside Nordstrom in Cherry Creek North.We worked through some initial drawings, but Patty's first sketches of people--tho' expertly rendered--were not matching the playful spirit of what I had in mind for "Laid-Back Skier's" messages that apply to everybody's ups and downs.

One day, on the first of the month, I posted on Facebook one word "Rabbit." Saying "rabbit" on the first of the month is a common British superstition to bring good luck.

Patty saw my Facebook post and shot me a message of a single word: "Bunnies!"

"Ski bunnies!" I realized, would be perfect.

Patty hopped to and drew some initial bunnies to set the style. I knew we were on to something better than the humans. We met several times to collaborate on the bunnies, their fur color and eye color, their attire, equipment, actions, and the general gist of alpine landscapes. We created scenarios to illustrate the truisms I'd written to compare alpine skiing to life.

Along with ski bunnies, we added foxes, birds, and even a rare lynx. In the end, Patty completed 38 illustrations for "Laid-Back Skier." Each is adorable and expertly rendered with expressive faces, dimensional shadows, and creative coloring.

Here at Friday Jones Publishing, we all have our favorite illustration by Patty. The cumulative effect of the illustrations plus all the other elements of design and the truisms in "Laid-Back Skier" should bring a smile to reader's faces - even if they've never ever been on skis.

Which is the case with Patty Leidy, making her illustrations even more impressive.

Wag your tale, Patty Leidy!

And thank you Jesse and Josie for dragging me into Facebook. I'm red-in-the-face about my initial resistance.

P.S. To contact Patty Leidy about commissioning artworks, e-mail her at

Patricia Leidy hkit1@mindspring.com

COLORADO COLLEEN: Check my essay on skiing in The Denver Post

If you are or were an alpine skier--or rider--you'll appreciate the sentiments.

If you're not, you'll better understand why we skiers risk life and limb, endure traffic jams, and potentially suffer frostbite--all at a pretty penny.

That's me after a long day on the slopes at Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, last season. Pardon my helmet hair.

The Denver Post published "Skiing: An elevated state" Monday.

That's me after a long day on the slopes at Arapahoe Basin, Colorado, last season.

COLORADO COLLEEN: One extreme to the other--Alpine skiing and Bikram yoga

Alpine skiing requires a lot of layers of clothing, a lot of equipment, a lot of cold, and the clunkiest of footwear.

Bikram yoga requires bare feet, as little clothing as possible, and a studio heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit and about 50 percent humidity.

I'm crazy about both activities.

Or maybe just plain crazy?

I shot this iPhone photo from a chairlift at Arapahoe Basin last season.

The single skier at bottom left puts the picture into perspective.

The Rockies rock.

COLORADO COLLEEN: Alpine Skiing as Spiritual Exercise

Photo by Colleen Smith

Riding a chairlift in Vail's back bowls after a big snow in spring 2009

Skiing at its best is a spiritual exercise that takes us out of time and space and puts us up in the rarified air where-- according to many traditions--divinity resides.

Skiing has this restorative effect on me: Imagine one of those dry-erase boards. Imagine the board's surface riddled with writing and mathematical problems and lists of things to do and calendars with deadlines and shopping lists and packing lists and receipts and recipes and diagrammed sentences and notes-to-self and deadlines and worries and regrets and wonderings and musings and interview questions and passing thoughts and vocabulary words plus some random memories of dreams and welling insecurities and doubts and bothers and irritations and unanswered email and Facebook and posts I've been meaning to write for my blog and other demands. And did I mention deadlines?

Then, imagine that with every turn made on a ski run, an eraser wipes over that cluttered dry-erase board. Each turn wipes the slate cleaner and cleaner until all that's left is white. All that's left is the snow.

All that's left are the thoughts about when and where and how to turn, the sublime sight of jagged mountain peaks and the towering, fragrant forest and the ineffably blue sky, the thin air and the thick skin of my feet aware of snow and speed and fall line. All that's left is the feeling of flying, strafing the slopes, my season pass fluttering against my splashing heart working overtime at 11,000 feet above sea level. All that's left is gratitude for the experience and the ability and the opportunity and the exhilaration of the Alleluia sport and the heavensent snow.

Happy October: 37 Days Til Ski Season Opens!

Frost in the forecast means fare thee well
to much of my garden;
but in my in box an email reminding me
of the one consolation:
37 days until ski season opens in Colorado!

Photo depicts my college housemate
Betsy "Logan" Edwards, at left,
and moi atop Vail.
Betsy brokers real estate in the Vail Valley
in case you're looking for
a get-away in the high country.

Meanwhile, bring in any plants
you intend to over-winter in the hospitable indoors.
Toss a blanket over your tender plants outside--
especially those tomato vines!
Indian Summer extends our growing season,
but not if Jack Frost nips too hard.

COLORADO COLLEEN: Mt. Melancholy

FROZEN WATERFALL

in Colorado's Rocky Mountains between Denver and Vail. Old Man Winter hasn't had his last word with us yet.

VIEW FROM THE PORCH -- Winter or Spring? In Denver, Colorado, Mother Nature can't decide. This snow was so heavy, I could barely hoist the shovel. This was the most possible water content in snow. Any more and it would not be snow, but rain. We so need the precipitation, so the moisture comes as a benediction. The trees on my corner seemed fine since the snow wa mostly melting off. *** Elsewhere, though, roofs caved in, including a new roof on a library. I70 was closed both east- and west-bound; foothills had about two feet of snow. Got out of Denver late, and made it to Vail, to ski Day 21. Tomorrow is closing day on the mountain and several other resorts. But you never know: Last year, Aspen opened for Father's Day. And there's always the possibility of eking a few more days out of the season at Arapahoe Basin. Today on the mountain, skiers and riders seemed melancholy. The snow had held up surprisingly well, and new snow fell. Light went flat. At one point, we were like blind skiers, skiing through fog and small pellets of snow that sandblasted our faces as we made our way down.

COLORADO COLLEEN: Vail Puts a Lid on It

Nobody really likes being told what to do, and I'm not sure we can legislate common sense, yet I tip my hat--or my ski helmet--to Vail Resorts for requiring employees to wear helmets while skiing or riding on the job. The new rule will go into effect for the 2009-2010 season. All five Vail resorts--four in Colorado and one in California--also will require helmets for ski school students under age 12. Helmets will be part of the rental package for kids.

Last month, I blogged about a dramatic spill I took on an expert run the same day that Natasha Richardson fell on the bunny slope. She later died, tragically, but her death gave rise to more debate about ski helmets.

Vail leads the ski industry on so many levels; I'm glad they stepped up on this issue. Things happen so fast on the slopes. Better safe than sorry.

Please read my earlier post about ski helmets.

And if you ski or ride and don't already have one, invest in a good helmet.