~ Gushy Mushy Love For Colorado Ski and Golf ... and My New Snowboard ~

Little known fact about the blonde: I'm a snowboarding fanatic. During the winter the blonde family can be found on the mountain each and every weekend. We luuuuurve us some fun in the snow!

There are 69 days until opening day at Keystone. There are 75 days until opening day at Breckenridge and there are 83 days until opening day at Vail and 88 days until opening day at Beaver Creek. Now, I'm not one of those people that wants to be first on the mountain but I do count down the days and this year I'm particularly excited because I just got all new gear!

Labor Day weekend in Colorado is a HUGE weekend for ski/snowboard people. This is the weekend that the ski shops pull out all of last years models and sell them at steep discounts. This includes everything from clothing, sunglasses, goggles, socks, gloves, hats, helmets, boots, bindings, boards, skis and anything else you can imagine.

There are two really big sales in Denver. SNIAGRAB is bargains spelled backwards (very clever, huh) and this sale is a hold over the old Gart Sport days, before Sports Authority bought them. My favorite is SKIREX at Colorado Ski and Golf. This is where we go for all of our stuff, period. This is, hands down, the most professionally run shop in Denver.

Yesterday SkiRex was open to a select gazillion customers, a day before opening to the public. I headed out early because this year I was up for new board, bindings, and boots. BIG and exciting purchase! I've had September 4th marked on my calendar for weeks and have been saving up all of my pennies for this specific day.

I should preface all of my goofy, happy, love for Colorado Ski and Golf with the fact that this is an entirely UNSOLICITED expression of devotion to my favorite shop in town. Yesterday just cemented my love for this place. On the busiest day of the year, I had the kind of experience that makes a blogger just want to go all blog happy on a place. I walked in, looked around the snowboard section, and within minutes John R approached me and asked if I had any questions. I told him what I was there for and he asked a few questions and went right to work showing me all the best options for me. We started with boots and he not only knew how to operate all the funky laces and straps and contraptions... he knew why they had been designed that way. Turns out John R was also a snowboard instructor... and guess what? Each time we've been to this place ... someone who actually knows what they are talking about has helped us. Ok, so after boots we looked at boards and talked shred (I'm so hip ya know - I told him I was too old to go through the trees and he said "Oh, I doubt that". HELLO, I am, but thanks for the compliment!).

Here is the thing I like about John R. He explained a few different boards to me and then he let me think about it and decide myself what the best choice was. THEN he said, "ya know, that was the board I would have chosen for you because.....". He educated me, let me think about it and make a choice, and then confirmed my choice. Love it! He did the same thing with bindings and then helped me carry all of my stuff over to the tent to wait in line.

I spent a small fortune yesterday but I have no doubt that I'll be happy, and guess what? If I'm not, I know from prior experience that someone at Colorado Ski and Golf has been given permission to make it right for me. I have several stories that exemplify this but this is turning into a really long and gushy post that none of my readers are really interested in reading so I'll end it with a heartfelt prayer....

Dear God,

I know it is only September 5th, but in about 69 days the opportunity to hit the slopes will be upon us. Remember how much fun we had laughing when I fell on my bootie last year? Remember the time I followed Will down a black diamond at Crested Butte and slid on my ass the whole way down, for like, a good three minutes, screeeeeaming the whole way? Remember, the bonding that occurred ? The incessant teasing? The torture of "hip snowboarding mom" has been the best thing to happen to our family dynamic.... I'm just sayin' if you could blow enough cold snow towards the Rocky Mountains so I can sport my sweet new gear and enjoy your beauty... I think that would be super awesome.

Thanks,

Fiona

*Social Media Marketing geek in me also loves that they are running a twitter hunt contest today. Follow them @coloradoskigolf and follow clues to find lots of cool free stuff.