Now, time for some serious skiing!

Early ski season is always a game of cat and mouse between skiers eager to hit the slopes and snow waiting in the wing.

Our resorts make snow and, more often than not, they over-produce it as if they didn't want to play chicken with their guests' expectations, so early December skiing is always good, but in most cases, it happens largely on man-made snow.

So when Deer Valley opened up a pile of new terrain yesterday, smiles were on all the faces and I made sure I'd be part of that feeding frenzy. The snow accumulated since November was a dense powder, still skiable, but that required one's full attention.

To my surprise, my legs that were one year older, held steady, and I ended up spending my time skiing laps on Rattler, a steep run just under the Wasatch chair.

In the evening, boy, was I pooped! I almost fell asleep reading a fascinating book about Mr. Putin and soon was in my bed curled up like a baby. Nothing like some great skiing and cold winter air!