It's SNOWING!

I love snow. I always have. It's such fun.

As I was growing up, I never knew how to ski, so we had to make do with sledding and just generally getting ourselves all wet and cold by rolling in the snow, instead of sliding on top of it.

By the time I was out of high school, I'd gone skiing a grand total of twice...once with my cousins, and once for "Lifetime Sports" PE class.

Then I met Jerry. I think he was on skis before he could walk, and as a result is quite an accomplished skier. I had to learn to ski in a *huge* hurry. And you know what? I LOVE it! I might even like going skiing more than Jerry does. Of course, that might be because he can't go on all the "fun" stuff like he does when I'm not with him.

Skiing around here is always a bit hit-and-miss. We have several ski areas around, Magic Mountain, Pomerelle, Soldier Mountain, and the world-renowned Sun Valley. I HOPE to get some skiing in after Nolan arrives. We have no shortage of babysitters...both grandmothers I think would be more than happy to have the child for a day. Though they'd have to come sit in the ski lodge. I don't think I'll be prepared to leave him for a whole day with someone else where I can't come look at him by that point. I joke that we're going to open up bidding for babysitting privileges.

Magic is a cute little hill that has some decent terrain and steepness, but only has about 4 runs to ski on. It usually has snow, which can be an issue in this area...snow's not always guaranteed. Magic Mountain also happens to be one of the only places in the world that has ever broken a titanium ski binding right off the ski. Jerry managed that one jumping off a rock face.

Pomerelle is one mountain that is pretty much guaranteed to get snow. They always have the most snow of any resort near here, but it takes *forever* to get to the mountain, and the terrain is not all that great. Pretty flat. Great beginner's mountain, but anyone that picks up skiing with any speed at all is going to grow out of it after about 3 days.

Soldier Mountain is to the North, the other two are to the south of us. Farfield, Idaho. Much better terrain, more runs, but actually getting snow is another story. It's one of those mountains that when they have snow, the skiing's GREAT, but they don't have snow quite often. We never buy a season pass because you never know if they'll be open all winter, or only for a month.

Then there's Sun Valley. Great skiing, when they have natural snow. It's the manufactured stuff that makes Sun Valley not-so-great. I suppose it's better than no skiing at all, but the manufactured stuff, coupled with the number of skiers that are on the mountain equals Huge Patches of Ice. Ice is hard to ski on. Most of the mountain, I don't get a lot of enjoyment out of...I'm simply not a good enough skier.

However, Sun Valley has Seattle Ridge. What a great place, though it's one of the last to open, and one of the first to close each year. It's one side of a bowl with all beginner and moderate runs that has a high-speed quad from the bottom of the bowl to the top of the ridge. At the top of the ridge, they have put in a wonderful lodge. This lodge and the layout of the Seattle Ridge area make skiing so GREAT for me. There's enough tree/powder terrain for Jerry to have some fun, but the runs are easy enough for me to enjoy. And, when you get cold, you go in the lodge, which is a typical Sun Valley lodge complete with couches and stone floors and luxury bathrooms and gourmet chefs.

It's a cafeteria-style gourmet, but it's still great! You tell them what you want, and they serve it up for you. Our traditional Seattle Ridge lunch is Chicken Basil Chili, which you can get served in a bowl, or over a baked potato. All the chefs have foreign accents. Very cool. One thing: You have to pick what condiments you want on your chili, and they always ask you, but you don't always understand them for the accents.

And that's CJ's Southern Idaho Ski Review.