Brew-Ski: training season kick-off

My sister and I started home brewing beer a little over a year ago. After we'd brewed several kinds we had a beer tasting party at my house last summer and the beer was a big hit. Several people familiar with homebrew have commented on how good it is and that some homebrew can be pretty bad. We've never really had a bad batch and I can only assume it's because we're women and know how to follow instructions! It's really not that complicated. I started bringing the latest batch to various ski gatherings and have begun to be known for my beer in our small circle of skiers. We brewed a bunch at the end of the racing season and had several kinds ready so it was time for another party. I decided that a beer tasting would be a great way to kick off the new training season. Many people came, including some of the new team members. It was nice to have some social time to get to know everyone better besides standing around sweaty after practice. It was nice to see everyone in something other than sweaty work out clothes. We all clean up pretty good! I hope to have more parties this summer since many people were out of town or at the Cable Offroad Classic. It's hard to find a weekend when half the skiers you know aren't at some race, so I guess I'll just have to have them often so that everyone can come to at least one. There isn't as much emphasis on performance as a master skier as there was when I was trying to make the US team since we have more going on in our lives now. But I don't miss that too much since there is more of an emphasis on friends and the social aspects of the ski community. I think that's a fine trade at this stage in my ski career and something that I know I'll never feel burn-out from like I did with high-level racing. I'm so glad to be a part of this community again.