Remember, Goose: Man makes plans, and the gods laugh.
I have airfare, non-refundable lux accommodations ($700+ per night, but paid with hotel points), and lift tickets for two booked for Vail Jan 25-30th. We've arranged someone to watch our two small children for 6 days.
I've been watching the Colorado weather thread and this thread for several weeks. Checking Opensnow every single day. Following all of Monique's and Ron's pictures. Cheering and calling friends when the latest round of storms opened up the back bowls and Blue Sky. Eagerly watching Joel's forecast for late January storms. Running, lifting weights, and skiing at the local hill to get in the best possible shape to maximize the trip. Dreaming of epic powder days.
We went to the small local mountain in West Virginia last weekend for a family ski trip and warm up for the Vail trip. My wife and I both spoke about the fact that the worst thing that could happen would be one of us getting hurt before the Vail trip, so agreed on-piste only, and no park skiing.
At the end of the first day (of a 3 day trip), my binding (admittedly 12 year old Markers, which are known for pre-releasing) pre-released while I was making GS turns on a steep section of a double black, which was icy. Lower body was ok, but I came down hard on my shoulder, and couldn't lift my arm. I sat the rest of the trip out, and just got x-rays this morning, that confirmed a broken upper arm (I may also have a torn rotator cuff). Ortho said absolutely no skiing for 7-8 weeks. So, now I'm looking at a best case scenario of maybe rescheduling for mid-late March (at some cost), and a worst case scenario of losing about $5k.
Takeaways?
- I'd give a lot to not have my arm in a sling facing possible shoulder surgery (if the rotator cuff is torn) and PT, and instead just be worried about being stuck to groomers.
- I'm seriously reconsidering putting so many resources (read hotel points) into a high end hotel at a ski area. We like lux hotels and have stayed at some really fantastic (and expensive) ones over the years (Park Hyatt Mallorca, St Regis Princeville, Andaz Mayakoba, etc), but a broken arm doesn't ruin a beach vacation like it does a ski vacation.
- I'm also reconsidering booking so far in advance, and instead trying to storm chase more. Airfare is about the same price now for DC-Denver (cheap) just 2 weeks out, as it was when we booked many months ago. Really, the only reason I committed early is that my wife needs lots of notice at her job to take a full week off work, we had to find coverage for our children, and I wanted to use hotel points (hard to find last minute availability).