Spring Break- First Stop

8X8 oil on canvas

Over the next week or so I am going to paint pictures of all the places we went over Spring Break.

Can you guess where we went first ?

On our way to CA to visit family we usually stop and stay the night in Tahoe just to break up the driving.  This year we stayed 2 nights and skied.  We thought it was about time our non Skiing Idaho kids (we have a ski resort just up the hill, they should ski) learned to ski.

I love Squaw Valley.  I have skied there since I was about 5 years old.  Ever since I can remember I skied with my sister Jeni who is one year older than me.  The two of us would go out alone and ski everywhere.  We loved to ski through all the powder under the lifts and through the trees.  I remember getting stuck many times at the top of this face I’ve painted.  We would go up KT-22 or Headwall or Cornice and somehow make our way down.  I don’t think those lifts are there anymore.  Are they?  Squaw Valley was so different back then (in the 70’s) and we felt like we owned the mountain.

After a day of teaching my kids how to ski up at High Camp, they all took the tram down and I skied down the mountain run.  On my way I skied under the Gondola and stopped and took a picture.  This is what I have painted.   It was a day of perfect spring skiing, sunny and about 50 degrees.  And my kids learned to ski!

The colors in the photo of this painting are not quite right, but pretty close.  The sky is brighter.

I have so many memories of this place.