By Merisa Sherman I don’t know where memories of the U.S. Pro Tour came from in my mind. I guess I’m just stuck on ski racing these past few weeks. Even though I freaking hate ski racing. Maybe I’m changing my mind? But the memory was unshakable: These guys were absolutely nuts and so ridiculously…

By Merisa Sherman The tears started early, at drop off actually. I got onto my knees and looked directly into the tear filled blue eyes in front of me. “My tummy hurts,” she managed to hiccup out and I had to bite my lower lip to keep from smiling. “Does it feel like there are…

By Merisa Sherman I was panicking we were going to be late. I didn’t really have any specifics, but I wasn’t going to miss this moment for anything. It was an absolute honor to have been invited to share in this once-in-a-lifetime event and we were going to be there. The roads were eerily empty…

By Merisa Sherman It started like any other tour. I had my backpack full of goodies, including the best puffy coat in the entire world. It’s the coat that enables me to forgo my fear of the cold, knowing that no matter the temperature there is a nice warm bundle of heat waiting for me…

By Merisa Sherman We shuffle though the lift line, our neckies pulled up over our noses in the crowd. I look over one shoulder, then the other, to see if we have moved up any relative to the strangers on either side of us. I work my skis forward, just a bit, unable to break…

By Merisa Sherman I cannot stop looking out the window. The beauty of what is happening outside lures me in and captivates not only my mind but my entire soul. I cannot stop staring at the snow resting on the pine trees or even the white snowy shadows on the deciduous branches. It’s like Kahlil…

By Merisa Sherman The sky is stunning, a perfect blue filling the sky. There is not a single cloud in the sky. In fact, it feels like there are no clouds blocking the sun at any height. Like the sun rays are a dagger through the layers of sky. With the below freezing temperatures, it’s…

By Merisa Sherman With big eyes, she looked out at the carpet with trepidation. You could see her tiny little mitten wrap around her father’s leg as she made sure her support system was intact. She stood, barely holding herself up, as her dad bent down to help her kick the soccer ball and then…

By Merisa Sherman With each snowflake, with each storm, comes the chance to begin again, to start anew. No storm will be the same as the one before nor will any storm be the same as ones to come. Just as no snowflake is the same, neither is any snowstorm. With each unique storm comes…

By Merisa Sherman “Vermont must be beautiful this time of year …all that snow.” What a great way to trick your best friend into heading up to Vermont for the holidays! The phrase gets repeated over and over again throughout the movie, as Danny Kaye successfully manipulates Bing Crosby into changing their plans from New…

By Merisa Sherman A young man was banging on doors, a large blue cardboard poster under his arm. In the center was a large black and white photo of a random mountain in Vermont. It was taken from an off angle, and you could see the wing of the plane in the corner of the…

By Merisa Sherman It’s crunchy season. A gorgeous afternoon, with the shining sun strong in the sky, but the ground beneath is the loudest it will be all year. A few inches of beautiful snow had melted back to reveal snowy patches alternating with leaves frozen on the ground. It was like a chorus of…

By Merisa Sherman It was dark when I got out of work. The recently fallen snow was glittering in the golden lamplight. We had gotten so much snow that the birch trees above my car were bending under the weight. I shuffled my boots under the snow, the fluffy white snow poofing upward with every…

By Merisa Sherman Like so many East Coasters, I grew up ski racing. It was an excuse to ski. The better I got, the more days we could pack onto the weekend. Commitment meant we would practice drills at my home mountain after school midweek. We couldn’t get enough. I raced from childhood through college,…

By Merisa Sherman The cocktail party twirls on around me as I gather up abandoned glasses throughout the Great Room. I duck under one person’s elbow, my right arm hopefully protecting the glasses on my cocktail tray from getting bumped. I feel like a panther, stealthily avoiding our lovely guests who are caught up in…