Brady and Eric arrived last night for a four night Sierra Sojourn. What better way to kick off the vacation than by snowshoeing.

Bob and Jenny introduced us to this cool Lookout hike during the summer. It looks amazingly different now blanketed in several feet of snow.


The photos pretty much capture the gorgeousness of our morning!

Next stop was to give Eric a history lesson about the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, held at Squaw Valley. This is one of our favorite places to go to and we wanted to share it with them.

Our ultimate reason for coming here was for the Squaw Valley Institute's showing of Streif: One Hell of a Ride. Streif is considered the Super Bowl of ski racing and many competitors consider a win here more triumphant than an Olympic medal. It is the annual Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel, Austria and it is the most notorious and demanding course on the World Cup circuit and the highlight of the race season.
In prior Winter Olympics the athletes were housed in hotels or billeted with local families. Since no such facilities existed in Squaw Valley in 1960, the organizers decided to build the first Olympic Village at the Winter Games. Competitors slept in one of four dormitories and ate together in a dining room. Part of the awesomeness of tonight was the fact that the movie was shown in the actual dining room where athletes from 30 nations ate together for 11 days- making history.
The show began with a performance by Squaw Valley Institute’s own Matt Reardon who wrote the soundtrack for the film. I thought that was pretty dang cool.

For 75 years, the annual Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel, Austria, has produced unforgettable triumphs and unspeakable tragedies, a heritage that is full of myths and legends. Nowhere else is skiing celebrated so intensely. This is the most anticipated race of the season and this film follows five elite athletes for a full year leading up to the most important run of their career.  It shares their journey from summer conditioning to early winter training and through the race season.  It is partially narrated by local ski racing celebrity Daron Rahlves (pictured between Brady and me). Rahlves was the winner of the legendary Hahnenkamm Downhill in 2003 and SG in 2004 (the only American in the race's history to do so).

Today was one of those days that was just unbelievable. Great nature hiking with friends, a history lesson in an amazing place and an exhilarating movie watched with its 'stars'. Yes, a pretty cool day indeed.