Snoqualmie

Blue Jeep Wrangler picked up from a Costco

The plan was to drive out to Snoqualmie the day after GKO for a day of skiing. I rented a blue Jeep Wrangler that had to be picked up from a Costco nearby. We got the car, drove it back to the hotel to check out and shift bags to the next place we were staying at, and headed to the ski rental. The shop did not open until ten or eleven, which left us standing around waiting for the door to unlock. We used the time to eat breakfast. After picking up the equipment we drove out to Snoqualmie, stopping on the way at Snoqualmie Falls, which is exactly as loud and cold and worth-stopping-for as it looks in photographs.

At Summit Central I bought a lift ticket for myself and spent the next hour or two teaching the guys the basics on the beginner slope. Once they were sorted, I took the lift up to actually ski. The snow was great. The ride up was long. I went again, and again, and again, and lost track of time in the way you only lose track of time doing something you genuinely enjoy. Then I realised the car keys were in my pocket. I went back down thinking I could take a bigger lift further up and look for the guys from the top to hand off the keys. Got to the base of it and saw about two hundred people in the queue. I had to return the skis by seven and the car by eleven. That was not going to happen.

I headed to the car. Sharang and Vibin were already waiting, cold in a way I could not feel because I had been skiing all afternoon and my body was still warm. Udaya was somewhere on the mountain looking for me. I got the boots off, and when I started backing the Jeep out I realised someone had parked too close on my side. First time using reverse on an AWD, I gave it a bit too much throttle and the car jumped back and tapped the Mazda parked behind. No mark, no alarm. I had hit the brakes in time. From there we were racing the clock. Made it to the ski rental in time to return everything, went for dinner, stopped at Apple University Village so the guys could buy phones, and got the Jeep back by half past eleven.