By Erin Barnett     

Over Martin Luther King Weekend, Jan. 16-18, Après invited members of Fun & Sun Waterski Club to enjoy an organized weekend at the Lodge. It was a very well balanced group, with 5 Après-only members, 10 Fun&Sun-only members, 11 who are members of both clubs, and 4 brand new guests ta-boot. By Sunday morning, both clubs had generated some new recruits!

And here’s how... Friday night Lodge captain Brian Saunders arrived early to do some last minute shopping and get the snack of pizza, chips and salsa ready. Attendees arrived at a steady pace through the evening, and as the group grew in size the party gained momentum. The latest arrivals came through the door about 11:30, finding a wide awake group that had a pretty good start on filling the kitchen trash can with empties. Don Breedlove had burned a CD that kept the party rockin’, and when the song Mas Tequila came on Brad Grossman had us all covered with his “Shooterville” contribution of a bottle of Commemerativo.

Saturday morning rolled around pretty early for those that were up until 2:00, but I am happy to report that everyone that planned to ski on Saturday got up and skied. Breakfast was kept simple with bagels, Eggos, cereal, and the like, and then most of the group headed out to Squaw Valley to enjoy tons of sunshine and great skiing. Lunch was on the deck at Gold Coast, and between our group and a number of friends that found us at Squaw, we nearly took over one side of the deck!

After the last run had been skied, the après ski activities began at Bar 6 with many of the group enjoying a hot beverage or two. Captain Morgan himself was there in full pirate regalia, and several from the group scored drinks in souvenir pirate boots. Then, back to the lodge where Russ Mannas had been hard at work putting out an enormous spread of appetizers including many cheeses, crackers, warm fresh bread, grapes, chicken skewers, mini quiches, spinach phyllos, and more. And of course - wine!

The blind wine tasting involved every attendee bringing a bottle of wine. In addition to the 30 folks staying at the lodge, we had 15 more people stop by for dinner or just for a visit. And some of them brought wine too, so we had plenty to taste J. Each bottle was wrapped in paper so the label couldn’t be seen, and then a number was written on the bottle. There was also some poster board with a space for people to write comments about each bottle number. This was a great format, with lots of very interesting comments being recorded during the course of the evening. The selection of wines ranged from $2 Chuck to a $40 selection. We had different varieties too, including raspberry wine, chocolate port, champagne, and number 9 - a strange, agave based 80 proof wine in a short roundish bottle brought by Rick Semetelli (thanks Rick!).

After warming up the party with the appetizers and some wine, we sat down to a fabulous dinner prepared by Brian, Eleanor, and Susan Hayes. We feasted on Mom Saunders’ Hungarian chicken, pasta, and salad. Dessert was a chocolate raspberry torte and cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Oh - did I mention we had some wine??

Once dinner was done and cleaned up (amazing job Al Castro and helpers!), we got to the part of the night Ray Muggli had been waiting for. A huge game of liar’s dice formed in the living room. Getting caught bluffing resulted in not only losing a die, but also in getting a shot of that strange agave wine #9. Despite Ray's exuberance and enjoyment of shots he didn't actually win, we suspect he wasn't really trying. The winner was Russ Mannas, he destroyed the competition and had four die left when everyone else had none. After the game, the party just kept rolling with lots of laughter and smiles... and wine. Somewhere in the vicinity of 1:30, the last five revelers decided to call it a night.

Sunday morning brought another day of sunshine on the slopes, a chance to match up the wine bottles with the comments they had inspired, and... plenty of room at the breakfast table. Even as late as 9:00am, eleven people still lay in bed. Even Ray was just on his first cup of coffee then. However, at least 19 of us headed out to make the most of the day, many to Sugar Bowl. They happened to be holding a professional freestyle competition over in the terrain park, so there was a lot of activity at the Mt. Judah lodge. In fact, I think President Laura Bryan has her eye on a bright blue vinyl, Captain America inspired skin suit for racing next year. Keep an eye open for that!

And - keep an eye open for a joint Après/Fun & Sun waterski weekend next summer. Fun & Sun has promised to invite Après members to come out and enjoy one of their events at Lake McClure next summer. There is no reason to stop skiing just because the snow melts!