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Above: Skier near the top of the Deer
Valley slopes. Left: Deer Valley chairlift.
Below: Skier crashes and burns.

Photos courtesy: Dear Valley Lodge & Alison DaRosa
It's the ideal place for a born-again 5-year-old Aubrey Peterson practicing chair lift. (Alta is for serious skiers, but
skier. her “pizza” (my generation called it a 65 percent of runs are designed for be-
snow plow) and her “french fries” (paral- ginners and intermediates.)
The snow was perfect on
the sunny spring morning I The snow was even better
skittishly hit the slopes. In- up top – and before long
structor Art McNeally was I was gaining confidence,
gentle. And friends had carving tighter turns, feel-
been right about the chang- ing great about my prog-
es in skis. ress.
“Imagine carrying a 12-foot- By the time I traded my
long 2-by-4 down the road, “ ski boots for a pair of
said Carson Wolfe, who fit warm, fuzzy slippers pro-
my rental skis. “Now imag- vided at the mid-moun-
ine carrying a yardstick. tain Collins Grill, I was
Which one would you have giddy with exhaustion.
more control over?” So was Marybeth Bond,
a Bay Area visitor savor-
Wolfe gave me a pair of skis ing her first day on skis in
only 142 centimeters long – two years. “Oh, I’m such
about 4 feet, 8 inches, a half- a good skier,” she giggled.
foot shorter than I am. “With a lot less lel skiing). “It’s the snow. It’s perfect.”
underfoot, you’ll have a lot more con- “Let’s go,” McNeally smiled, taking off.
trol,” he promised. Lunch was perfect, too: fresh local trout
With no time to think, I followed. It was
McNeally started me out on the rope tow. easier than I’d expected. After a couple sautéed in lemon dill butter. Dessert
At the top of our bunny hill, I watched more rope tow runs, we headed off to a was another glorious run down the hill.

Wine Dine & Travel Spring 2014 75