Packing for Park City

Beside the usual requirements for preparation for a ski trip that includes clothes, and kid's clothes and ski equipment, and car reservations, and condo instructions, and something else I am sure that I am forgetting, I have bogged down on two major issues here. Beside the last minute work deadlines, and Christmas shopping (ha!) I am hurdling to that 12 noon flight deadline this Saturday. Although, when it is all done, I can almost picture myself sitting on the plane with wheels up and we are off to mountains of winter fun! But first, I have to work out the choices:

• Skis -- I do this on every ski trip as I have many choices here. (Some people are amazed at the ski collection, others eye me nervously -- "Are all those yours?" -- I have stopped having the skis I buy on Ebay shipped to the house so as to preserve domestic tranquility!) Last year, I brought four pairs to Utah, but this year I am only bringing two, I think. The new Fischer World Cup SC's in a 165cm with a turning radius of 11 meters are definitely going. I sampled last Sunday at Perfect North (400 screaming vertical-feet in Indiana) and they cut up the ice and can carve and did not seem to have an upper speed limit. Now the hard part is the one and only second pair. (Say Polly, can I put an extra pair of skis in your ski bag -- or, better yet, just throw a third pair in there without telling her!) I should take the Dynastar Intuitiv 74's due to the absolute possibility of powder out West, but I am leaning toward the Salomon Crossmax 10's as they can float and carve. Yeh, float and carve! That's it, until I change my mind tomorrow.
• Wine -- This is complex too. On some trips I will bring a case if I know I will be 100 miles from the closest wine store. Last summer I brought a case on the drive to the Adirondacks and am glad I did. It was a 30-minute, dusty trip to town on dirt roads. I did find a store in Old Forge that had a decent selection and offered some New York wines that were very good. On the trip to Maine last summer I flew, so I went empty-handed but had access to the Portland and Boston wine stores, not to mention the tiny out-of-the-way shops in Maine that surprise you with gems. (I found a very good Malbec from Argentina for $7 at a Texaco station!) And I loved the "Big Store" in New Hampshire that is, I think, owned by the State and had huge highway signs declaring that it was the "Last Stop for Liquor". Should a state be advertising with huge highway billboard signs to stop in for liquor? Reminds me of the billion-dollar tobacco settlement with the states where they get a piece of every cigarette sold. Do you want us to smoke them, or not? I thought cigarettes are bad for you! I guess it's OK in New Hampshire to drink so long as you drive on the interstate and stop by the State stores. (It's OK officer, I got all this stuff at the State store, the same one that pays your salary!) Sorry for the digression, but here is my current thinking on bringing wine to Utah. (Don't tell anyone as it is probably illegal.) First, Park City must have some decent wine stores there with a good selection as the restaurants do have great wine lists, so I am only bringing a Sake and a Chambers Tokay. They are light and small in half bottles and could come in handy in the case of flight delays. (When was the last time you had a really good wine at an airport?) I figure the reds and whites will be covered in Park City, but I will faint if I find a premium Sake and an Australian Tokay there! Then again, I am arriving on Christmas Day and the next day is Sunday, so the stores may be closed, so maybe I had better bring one or two reds, just in case! I can live without whites for a day or so, but going two days without some good red wine, well....

I will give you a full report when I return.