My dear colleague turned guest blogger Joanna Bean hit the slopes this weekend. Here's her report:

My kids, ages 6 and 10, have been raised on Colorado packed powder. For them, a powder day has been a rare thing, usually just a dusting of snow that's gone by 10 a.m. Until this year. There was a foot (!) of fresh snow to greet us at Monarch on Sunday morning, and it snowed all day. My kids were utterly delighted - and a little perplexed.
Here are a few things they learned:
1. Zip all zippers, fasten all Velcro, snap all snaps before heading up the lift. Snow this deep - with more falling all day - ends up everywhere. My 10-year-old daughter learned the value (during our lunchbreak) of tucking some of her layers into her pants before heading back out.
2. Carry tissues or a hanky. Epic snow means epic wipeouts.
3. Keep track of your skis when they're on your feet. If you step out of a binding or fall, don't move too far away. It can be tricky trying to find a wayward ski under a foot of powder.
4. It takes a lot of work to make turns and pole your way through the flats when there's this much snow. Frequent rests and breaks are a good thing.
5. Hot cocoa tastes especially good when you come into the lodge looking like a snowman.

-Joanna