Alta Lodge, Utah: Where Everybody Knows Your Name

Just got back from six days skiing at a women's ski clinic in Alta Lodge in Utah. The top of Alta is 12,000 ft high (no, doesn't mean anything to me either...) ski-in ski-out and best place in the US, I reckon. Very DownHomey, more duck tape on boots than fayne dining and shoppes.  That said, food is superb and weight will not be lost (buggah!)

Ski shop at top of Alta Lodge

Desserts are slimming if eaten at altitude

Ready for the Rodeo?

Chips are slimming if eaten with apple at altitude

Venison and blackberries with brussels

Happy with ski ensemble,  I'll have it for 20 years

Mimi's (owner of Alta Lodge) father took all those famous photos of Frida Kahlo. 

Skiing to Snowbird next door

Looking down the valley at 5.30pm from Alta Lodge

It was Carson's birthday (52!) and her husband organised a cake and champers

Carson, Cameron, Melinda and Me sky larking around in the Sitzmark Club (the attic) where you're allowed to drink. You can be carded if you look younger than 36 years old! 

Entry of Alta Lodge

View from my room

Alta Lodge deck

My ski group

Us ten years ago (what the heck's going on with my hair?) We started going to Alta Lodge because it had kids' dinners, kids' club and babycare next door.

Day starts with breakfast - from fruit salad to cornbeef hash (are you a morning person? I'm not, breakfast and chat is not in my repertoire) lunch has best fries ever with portobello mushroom burger, dinner choices like venison with blackberries and halibut with mango sauce and a cornucopia of desserts including freshly made brownies and ice cream. And the trousers go swish swish.

I came with four friends this year but I've been a couple of times by myself and felt very comfortable. (Last year's trip here) The average age of our clinic was about 50 and we even had one 75 year old,  a former ultra marathoner.  Felt quite spring chickeny.

When I'm skiing there are loads of other things I'm doing too. There is the lavatory crouch, then the rodeo and then... the yard sale (skis and poles everywhere.)  Our instructor Jen said after we rodeoed one run: "Everything about skiing is counter-intuitive. Job security."

In my group were A, a Brit living in Florida and working in publishing, M, a top clearance army solicitor, and K, a former 20-20 TV producer.  C, a finance person, fractured her rib and then we were four. A. told us she'd banned her staff from describing things as nice, awesome or good so following her example our runs became exquisite, superlative, vile or just bloody awful.

Love finding out what it's like living full-time in a resort town, don't you? In a socio-anthropologist rather than annoying, nosy way, obviously. Thinking our Harley, 16, should do a gap year here after high school so I asked one of the ski shop guys about jobs: "Be careful" he said "I came here for a gap year in 1999."

Alta is known as Neverland for guys; the women tend to be more like Wendy, getting promoted and taking on responsibility.  One woman said she could name 50 men who were over the age of 40 and single. Not sure whether I should tell my single girlfriends or not? As someone else said: "Maybe good for a mini-break, not for the long haul..."

Good old Kevin held down the fort and all was well and tidy when I arrived home - I've learned to arrive home after the cleaner's been through. (When the kids were tiny I got home once and they were sipping milk out of margarita glasses.) Cy, 10, was puzzled when I hugged him and said: "I thought you came home yesterday."

Cy's big news is that he's got an alarm clock which is set to 6.40am. Two mornings he slept in and nearly missed Pardon The Interruption (obnoxious telly show, two men yelling at each other about sports). Alarm found, crisis averted.

All right in the world with you, then?