Continuing:
We start our day at 8:00 am putting on our equipment at the lifts. We are on the first chairs at 8:15 am, sometimes the actual first chair of skiers for the day (but we are never very far behind those first people). Depending on the level of my physical conditioning (remember, I’m a fat, sedentary, city dweller), we can get in 15 to 20 runs by Noon.
We stop at Noon, have a lovely and unhurried lunch at a one of the wonderful restaurants in Vail Village, and then spend the afternoon in some other activity. Mike usually goes after lunch to check on business at the stores and I usually spend the afternoon with my wife, getting a massage, going shopping, etc.
I consider this a much better use of my day. I effectively get a full ski day as measured by the number of runs and then have the afternoon to spend in another way.