A VAIL OF TEARS
By Ron Glowzinski

 A lively group of 35 TBirds headed to Vail Colorado with great expectations of finishing off the season with a flourish. That is exactly what they got! 

More new powder and blue sky than anyone could wish for, but no slush and scantily clad skiers, as they feared. With a  flight direct from Detroit to Denver followed by a short bus ride to Vail International Condominiums, a quick stop at Scoops market and Applejacks, and we were there by 3:00 PM. A wine and cheese party with a raffle at the Glowznski/ Eger condo was joined by Jason Brown of Vail Resorts who answered tons of questions. Mark De Felice, a former TBird and now ski instructor at Vail filled us in on the restaurants that were chosen and the locations for the on hill lunches and Après ski parties. We turned out the lift tickets and headed to Pazzo’s Pizza in Vail Village where the lasagna was terrific.

Sunday kicked off with a Mountain Tour for 25 TBirds. Wow, that is a big mountain. Meeting at noon at the Midvale lodge allowed us to eat lunch and pair up with our friends for free skiing on groomed hard pack for the rest of the day. As my group was racing down for the last time, it happened. I missed an unmarked green cat track that crossed my path and unexpectedly launched into a mogul field. I landed with my pole handle embedded in my chest. After regaining my wind and my equipment I trudged to the top and noticed that Ingrid (Queen of Austria) Joseph who was trying to catch me, followed me over the embankment and luckily only twisted a calf. Two yard sales. The next morning at the emergency room the doctor jokingly asked me if I expected my fractured rib and punctured lung to heal overnight. Well, so much for skiing for the next five days.

That night, Mother Nature dropped 13 inches of powder and wouldn’t give up, but the hearty TBirds were on the mountain floating through tons of champagne powder. Avid powder skier and trip leader languished in the emergency room. Bummer.

Ah, but we were having dinner at the Minturn Country Club that night. That would help. “Country,” I found, was more attuned to “country and western” and club was the weapon of choice, just joking. You cooked your own meal, that way they couldn’t fire the cook. It was pretty good but the bus ride to and from “Minturn” had my head reeling. Everyone else partied and drank and had a good time,  I had a salad, Bummer.

Day three, so far, 3 hours sleep in 48 hours for me but everyone else is having a ball. The NASTAR race saw Floridian Garrett Geiger take silver and Pete Morris take a bronze. Lynn Bacon (don’t call her Mary) called my cell phone with the news that Bionic Ed Bacon had dislocated his implanted hip joint while putting on his boot and they are heading to emergency. At last, someone to commiserate with!! After relocating his hip and advising him to get a new orthopedic surgeon (it was the third time the hip dislocated) Ed was ready to play euchre, drink and joke while everyone else wasted their time skiing. (Yea, right). Vendetta’s Italian restaurant hosted 25 TBirds that evening. I had a salad.

Mother Nature dropped another 11 inches of powder but was kind enough to stop before everyone hit the slopes. Another day in champagne powder heaven for everyone, but I had a euchre game! That evening 25 TBirds dined at La Cantina Mexican in Vail Village and enjoyed the greatest margaritas.

On Wednesday 8 TBirds headed to Beaver Creek and found the conditions every bit as good as Vail. They thought about going to Arapaho Basin but the shuttle service was discontinued. For a mere $772.00 they could rent an 8 passenger shuttle or for $1218.00 20 people could fit. Final choice, Beaver Creek, $1.00 each way (over 60). The cheapos went to Beaver Creek where they ate lunch at the Ritz Carlton with the money they saved getting there. Ah, but dinner that night was provided by club at the Red Lion Inn. Everyone attended except Dave Adrian who stayed in the condo to cook his condos meal for the next night. Martyr. Well, I was over the hump, only two days of glorious euchre to go.

Thursday was a blast for everyone on the slopes and 18 TBirds who partook in the Scavenger hunt/ pub crawl. Big bucks, prizes galore. We met at Pazzo’s Pizza and received the Scavenger Hunt packages. While we ate dinner, Vail Village walking maps and bus schedules and trail maps were spread on top of pizzas and lasagna and oily salads as the 26 question form was carefully prepared by the scavengers before they hit the streets to find the real answers. Thanks to Mark De Felice for making this up. Since I was running it, I couldn’t participate but my wife, Yvonne, could. Her group came in third out of 4 and I’m sure I’ll pay for not helping her team.

We stopped at the Red Lion Inn and lo and behold, big Stevie Sliper appeared. Obviously a bar stool had been reserved for the week. Rumor had it that he took a half run with Gari Chaffin and he told Gari to go ahead because he wanted to find “chicks on the chairlift” There is a pattern here. The Scavengers returned to Pazzo’s, tallied the scores and the trio of Gerry D’Ortenzio, Doerthe Marks and the Queen walked off with the big bucks. Doug Graham, Doug Wood, Ilze Berzins and Jim Steigelman took the balance.

Friday arrives and I have now accumulated 15 hours of sleep. Off they went, the skiers to the third consecutive blue sky, powder day. Envious, jealous, frustrated, yes but I had my Euchre game. We spiced up the day by going to Vail Village for ice cream. Yummy, damn.  Since we left the final night open for dinner, the Queen arranged for a dinner at Peppi Granshammer’s German restaurant. Eleven TBirds feasted on German delicacies and raved, I had a salad, yuck, I know I am going to feel better soon.

Gari Chaffin’s recently acquired beautiful wife Renee took a half day lesson from Mark De Felice. He was last years “Children’s Vail Snowboard and Ski Instructor of the Year”. Chuckle if you will, she learned a ton about body position and was enthralled with the results.  She couldn’t stop talking about the places she went and all that she learned.

Garrett Geiger hooked up with a local “dude” who ran him ragged through double black diamonds. He said he was embarrassed. I think he is just getting soft from being on those Florida beaches too long. (Look how tough I am).

Doerthe Marks, a new TBird, set a new standard for skiing for the guys in the club. She has been skiing in Germany since she was a child and moved here 1 ½ years ago. I heard no one could match her skills in every type of terrain.

At  9:00 AM the bus arrived and by 9:30 we were ready to go. Dave Adrian managed to be the last one on the bus to the jeers of the crowd.  I walked up and down the bus passing out the last of the Coors and Red Bull and collecting cute stories.

I wanted to give a special thanks to Mark De Felice who helped me select the best restaurants and activities for the group. He showed up to our activities including some hot tubbing. We asked everyone that had extra food and drink to leave the left-overs in the lobby for Mark. He can now eat and drink for a month and think about the TBirds.

Me, I slept for 9:00 PM Saturday to 11:00 AM Sunday, at last.  I’m going to bed now; it’s almost 6:00 PM.