March 17, 2008

It had been over 6 years since Michele and I had been snow skiing.  Our last time was in Colorado before our daughter Kathryn was born.  Kathryn is now 6 and had been doing great barefoot waterskiing during the summer, so we decided to give her a chance to try snow skiing during her first Spring Break from school.  She is in Kindergarten at Katy Elementary, just outside of Houston.

We decided to give Lake Tahoe a try since Michele's brother lives in Sacramento and it would give us a chance to visit them during our stay. 

A few days before we were scheduled to leave, Michele received a call from Willie Farrell inquiring about a new suit.  During the conversation, Michele mentioned to Willie that we were coming to Tahoe.  Being that Willy lives in Sacramento, and happened to own a condo at the ski resort we planned to visit, he insisted that he take a day off of work and meet us on the slopes.

To this day, I have yet to water-ski with Willie.  We've never been able to time our travels.  So when I heard Willie was coming to snow ski with us, I figured that would be just as fun as water skiing.  Willie is one of the most colorful and talented skiers in the world.  He's a blast to hang out with and showed us a great time on and off the slopes around Lake Tahoe.

Willie brought his good friend Pepper Benz with him to ski with us.  Pepper has been a BFC team member for several years, and we had a great time getting to know him.  He had grown up snow skiing and had been all around the world doing it.  Willie showed us some of his barefoot moves on the snow.  He was doing 360s and 720s on his skies as he skied down the blue slopes.  Both basics and reverses I might add.  He proved to us that his talent did not stop at waters edge.

Thanks again for a great time Willie and Pepper.  We're sure to make Tahoe a yearly stop on our schedule.  Next year, Mt Rose and Northstar.

Chuck Gleason