Glenna Stearman Park, Holidays in the Snow

Glenna Stearman Park:  Christmas vacation of senior year, Brenda Benjamin’s parents took VestaPatterson and me on a ski trip to Winter Park, Colorado.  Neither one of us had ever skied before, and we were light-weights with common sense.  Brenda had been there on other trips.  The ski resort looked glorious and we took the “bunny hill” like pros and learned to “snow plow” in a few minutes, and then graduated to the chair lift.  We were smart enough to get off at the halfway point because we could see what was ahead, and it seemed daunting.  First time we went down, Brenda and Vesta managed to stop in a safe area.  I kept going right into the parking lot, yelling for help.  The young men from the Air Force Academy were getting off their bus as I went zipping through them.  One voice yelled “fall down!”  I did.  I returned to the kiddy hill with a red face.  Brenda and Vesta continued to enjoy themselves back up the hill. (Right: Brenda Benjamin)

A year later, Vesta (at left) and I went skiing with a Young Life trip to Breckenridge.  It was less crowded and more fun as we knew lots of the other skiers.  We played with friends who had a home movie camera and made “chase scenes” on the slopes.   After a day or two, we drove over Wolf Creek Pass at a very snowy time, but stopped long enough to picnic with wine, cheese and bread (just like in the movies) and then took to the slippery highway as we went singing our way back to Silver Cliff Ranch outside  Colorado Springs.  We continued skiing the next day at the Broadmoor Hotel, which was just about our beginner speed.  At one point I was riding up the lift when I looked over to see Vesta packed into a basket, being brought down by the ski patrol.  I returned to the ski shop quickly, to discover Vesta in pain from some pulled muscle in her leg.  She couldn’t walk and had to hobble to the car on crutches where we returned her to Silver Cliff on put her on pain pills.  Not being such a hot athlete, I stayed with Vesta as she drifted in and out of sleep and discomfort. Our trip back to Wichita was not so easy for Vesta but the rest of us knew that we had a generally great time in the snow.