Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever

January 11, 2013 By

I truly fell in love with Winter Park Resort’s 3,081 skiable acres and thanks to its close proximity to Denver, it will become my go-to place for a quick half-day of skiing. Though it consists of four mountains (Winter Park, Mary Jane, Vasquez Ridge and Vasquez Cirque), I felt like I was skiing two different resorts. At The Village at Winter Park, there are restaurants (don’t miss Goodys’ to-die-for crepes), the new Alpenglow Massage, ice skating, an event gazebo and 200 luxurious condominium units in Fraser Crossing.

Goodys’ Good Crepes

Train playground, condo’s 30-person hot tub, winter wonderland, Polar Bear

The base of Mary Jane is dedicated to the diehards who don’t need all the pomp and circumstance. Sure, there are a few dining options but the important thing is it’s a short walk from your car to the slopes. I even spotted a camper or two in the parking lot.

Gorgeous amenities + staying connected to their roots? I’ve dubbed Winter Park the best of both worlds.

On our third and final day at the resort, we skied together as a family. I’ve dreamed of saying that for years. We have made several attempts but I can’t count hunched-over-trying-to-keep-Bode-from-falling-all-the-way-down-the-mountain as skiing. The sport has finally clicked for him and he LOVES it. When we awoke that morning, he announced he wanted to ski his first blue (intermediate run).

We tackled several difficult green-level runs (the easiest), often times splitting up so Haddie could find more challenging terrain and then meeting at the bottom of the lift. There was no pomp or circumstance when Bode decided he was ready for more difficult terrain. Like most everything in his life, he just decided he was going to do it and so did.

Hadley had some impressive moments as well.

“I want to do those,” Hadley said pointing to a run that was so bumpy it resembled a strawberry patch.

“Since when have you skied moguls?” I demanded.

“Since last year,” she breezily replied.

Bumps Girl

And skied them she did. Of course, she’s still figuring out her form but gosh darn it, I was stunned with how brazen she was. There is no way I could have set foot (or ski) on a mogul when I was her age. I have no doubt Bode and Hadley will soon surpass Jamie and me on the slopes and that Saturday at Winter Park confirmed it.

And I could not have been more proud.

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In case you missed them:

Winter Park Day 1: Tubing Cruising for a Bruisin’

Winter Park Day 2: The Mogul Queen, Kitty Cat on the Slopes & Bumper Funnies.

Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family, Family travel, Hadley, skiing

Winter Park Day 2: The Mogul Queen, Kitty Cat on the Slopes & Bumper Funnies

January 10, 2013 By

Hadley and Bode have been to plenty of ski schools over the years but none quite like the one at Winter Park. As we dragged out gear from our condo to the mountain, we encountered a mirage in the white wonderland: The resort’s complimentary wagon service, which has several stations around the resort for parents to haul kids and their gear.

We snagged one up and raced over to check the kids into ski school. As we filled out Hadley’s form, she complained, “Why can’t you put my name down as ‘Kitty Cat’ for once?”

It likely would have been a first for Winter Park’s ski school.

One gleaming thing that sets them apart from the others is that all kids are outfitted with a FLAIK device around their calves. This GPS tracking device not only follows their whereabouts (awesome in case they got separated) but at the end of the day, we were given a report card and a URL we later accessed that tracked their on-mountain location, skier stats, and runs skied.

FLAIK GPS Tracker

Though Bode finally caught onto skiing at the end of last season we have been tiptoeing around him, waiting for him to fall off the “I love skiing” precipice.

At the end of the day, I hesitatingly asked him, “How was ski school? Thumbs down or thumbs up?”

“Thumbs up. And all my fingers, too!!!!!”

I’ll count that as a win.

Private Amber

I’ve only  had a couple of private ski lessons and I can’t recommend them enough. I spent most of my skiing existence never improving and it wasn’t until I took a class a couple of years ago that I realized I had to make some major adjustments since converting to parabolic (shaped) skis.  I have wanted to take a moguls class to learn how to better navigate those blasted bumps. I almost had a chance a couple of years ago until 1.5 feet of snow flew and our mogul lesson turned into a powder one. Whoa was me. ;)

But since turning 40, I’ve resolved to throw caution to the wind by tackling my fears. And big, daunting bumps of snow are on that list.

Jamie and I met our instructor Chris at the Private Lesson Center next to the Zephyr Express chairlift. He listened to our request and mapped out the plan for the day. “Let’s start on some easier runs so I can help you work on your form and we’ll then move onto the bumps.”

It was the perfect strategy. Chris is a 22-year veteran of Winter Park and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone more knowledgeable about the resort and skiing than him. On the slopes, he broke down our form, built it up again and had us skiing smoothly and with confidence. When it was time to hit the moguls, he had me follow in his tracks as he pushed me to my limit but still respected my boundaries.

We won’t mention that the only time I fell was when I stood perched above the mogul field and hadn’t even started yet.

When we rested on the  chairlift, he entertained us with stories of the resort, deepening our love for the area. We lunched on delicious fare at the Lodge at Sunspot with panoramic views of the Continental Divide. To say it was a great day is an understatement.

But most importantly by the end of the ski class, I’ve never skied moguls better.

Before and after class

On the other hand, walking with my sore muscles? An entirely different story.

Bowling, Movies and Food, Oh My!

Bowling isn’t on my must-do list when I am in the mountains but trust me on this one: The new Foundry Cinema & Bowl  is THE place to hang out in Winter Park. This is no ordinary bowling alley with pinball, foosball, billiards, shuffleboard, ultra-hip Restoration Hardware décor, Old Shell gas pumps, a circuitous train, flat screens, three luxurious movie theaters and even a glowing pink sink in the women’s restroom that has become a destination unto itself.
The Foundry has an on-site restaurant so you can eat while you play or view movies (must-tries include their wood-fired pizza, Kobe Beef Sliders and the rosemary-crusted cashews). It offers 8 certified USBC Spec Brunswick Lanes with cutting-edge technology. We were blown away when it automatically set-up the bumpers whenever my kids got up to bowl and changed back for the adults.

Though our scores would have been much higher if they had just stayed in place.

It has been a while since we bowled and Jamie was bombing out (though for his street cred I’d like to insert he later got his groove back). On the scoreboard, each of our names was represented by the first letter.  We were about four frames into our first game and “J” was trailing Bode “B,” Hadley “H”, and Amber “A” by a lot.

Our helpful waiter came by, looked at the kids and said, “You know ‘J’ can put the bumpers up. It will really help his game.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him “J” was actually my husband.

Needless to say I tipped him extra that night.

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Stay tuned for Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever.

In case you missed it: Winter Park Day 1: Tubing Cruising for a Bruising. Thanks to Winter Park for hosting!

Filed Under: Colorado, Family travel, Humor, skiing

Winter Park Resort Day 1: Tubing Crusing for a Bruisin’

January 9, 2013 By

I have three new-to-me resorts on my bucket list this season: Winter Park, Copper Mountain and Steamboat. To put the end cap on our Winter Break we decided to hit nearby Winter Park, just a 70-minute drive from our house and the closest of Colorado’s big resorts to the Denver metro area. Dubbed “Colorado’s Favorite,” Jamie, like scores of locals, learned to ski here and has many fond memories.

And not-so-fond ones, like busting his knee when he fought with a tree.

As for me, I had a clean slate and kept it that way with an absolutely epic trip that has landed Winter Park in the accolades as one of my favorite Colorado resorts (no small feat, given the stiff competition).

Day 1

Skate. I always crack up when people tell me they don’t visit the mountains in the wintertime because they don’t ski or ride. Really? Do you have any idea of all the off-mountain activities? Winter Park is oozing with them including three different places to skate: The pond at the Village at Winter Park (with free lessons),  Cooper Creek Square in the town of Winter Park under a canopy of lights and music and the partially-enclosed “Ice Box” Ice Rink at the nearby Fraser Valley Sports Complex.

Though I longed to take a whirl on the pond across from our condo (I even had my skates in the car after a recent outing to Evergreen Lake), time was not on my side because I was too busy skiing, eating and tearing down the new Coca-Cola Tubing Hill at Winter Park.

Tube. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, we signed up for a one-hour block (cost is $22 per person, 36-inch height requirement). The four-lane, conveyer-lift-serviced tubing hill had only been open a week so tweaks were being made on two of the lanes, leaving only two open. No worries! We each grabbed a tube (no double riders), stood in line and then were sent barreling down to the great unknown.

Unlike all tubing hills I’ve visited, this one had a blind curve partway through the course, which caused me to have a minor anxiety attack as nearby Bode (who was linked to me) squealed with glee. After realizing I was not going to die, I relished in the adrenaline rush and we raced to the magic carpet for Round 2. Run after run we tore down the mountain and on our second-to-last run, we grabbed tandem tubes. Bode rode with me first, Hadley with Jamie followed. The tubing operator gave us a generous push and we flew down the mountain, bracing ourselves around the curve and prepared to stop. Only we didn’t. We kept right on going, gleefully bashing right through the padded protective barriers. Bode and I doubled over in laughter as the staffer took one look at us, grabbed his walkie talkie and said to his fellow staffer, “SLOW THE NEXT GROUP DOWN,” and he adjusted the mats that were strategically placed to do just that.

When Jamie and Hadley came down–though they didn’t go nearly as far or as fast–they too broke through the barriers.

For once, being a guinea pig really paid off. All good, my friends. All good.

Thanks to Winter Park for hosting! Also check-out:

Winter Park Day 2: The Mogul Queen, Kitty Cat on the Slopes & Bumper Funnies.

Winter Park Day 3: A Family That Skis Together, Plays Forever.

Filed Under: Colorado, Family travel, Humor, skiing, travel

Winter Break: Oh, How Sweet It Was

January 6, 2013 By

I’ll be honest: I love that my kids are almost back in school and I will have several hours to work and play. But when they are home for an extended amount of time, I’m reminded just how much I love being with them without the pressure-cooker of school, activities and homework. I was worried we would get stir-crazy but we had the perfect mix of fun, excitement and R&R. Haddie goes back to school Tuesday, Bode on Wednesday and then it’ll just be Jamie, Fat Kitty and me.

Here’s a quick pictorial summary of our happenings!

Class Party

Our winter break started with Bode’s holiday party at school. I brought my family’s traditional bells and those first graders were about as cute as can be playing Jingle Bells.

And yes, that is Hadley who invited herself along as my very helpful “assistant.”

Everywhere he goes, Bode makes a new best friend and this entire school year, he has been raving about his buddy, Brody. When I was busy helping kids at the party, I heard Bode say, “Excuse me, Mommy.” I turned around and, grinning ear-to-ear, there were two BFFs standing together. As polite as could be, Bode  said, “Mommy, I would like to introduce you to my friend Brody.”

“I’m very pleased to meet you, Mrs. Johnson.” And then, because the formality was about killing me, I give him a fist bump as greeting.

Great Eats

To celebrate the kick-off to winter break, we went to see the Hobbit at Harkins Theaters in Stapleton and also hit one of our favorite restaurants, Zengo, which is now offering bottomless brunch on Saturday and Sunday (hail any restaurant that offers Saturday brunch!)

It would appear Bode LOVED their churros with Mexican hot chocolate dipping sauce (as did we all).

What would you think of a restaurant that only survived gourmet, healthy food? On New Year’s Day, we ate at Cherry Creek’s new True Food Kitchen.  Based on Dr. Andrew Weil’s anti-inflammatory diet, this restaurant paired popular trends in cuisine with healthy living. Even the kid’s menu was delicious and I’ll be doing a full review on it all later. Bottom line if you live in Denver: GO.

Christmas Treats

One of my favorite things to do at Christmas is to bake delicious treats for our neighbors and friends. This year’s line-up was caramel corn, almond rocha, sugar-and-spice cookies, snowball cookies, cream cheese cutout cookies, shortbread, coconut penuche and caramel toffee squares. Hence the reason our kitchen looked like this.
And then, of course, we went skiing at Loveland on December 24, had our huge Christmas Eve fete  and a fun Christmas Day.

Evergreen

To burn off a few calories, we went skating at Evergreen Lake (one of my favorite winter activities in Colorado) with our besties Nolan and Rowan. And then we added the calories back on when we stopped at our favorite breakfast place in Colorado: Country Road Cafe in Kittredge. Don’t believe me? Take a gander at that basketball-sized pancake stuffed with raspberries. I took a risk from my favorites and tried something new: their Timber Ridge Tamale Benedict, which was two pork tamales topped with two eggs, pepper jack cheese, pico de gallo, sourcream, red chile cream, avocado and cilantro mojo drizzle.
It was a risk worth taking.

New Year’s

Remember when I graciously planned a New Year’s Eve bash at my friend Lisa’s house without telling her? It turned out splendidly! Haddie made beignets….And we all miraculously made it until midnight to ring in the New Year (I was the person in question). One of the highlights was winning the Newlywed Game because many of our answers resolved around the pumpkin. I.e. “Name something your husband has too much of.” Pumpkins. “What is something that annoys you about your husband?” Pumpkins.

We even almost nailed the question, “What cartoon character does your husband most resemble?” The other couples were waaaaay off-base, such as Phil’s answer “The Incredible Hulk.” His wife’s? “Homer Simpson.” For Jamie, I immediately thought of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, so wrote down Charlie Brown. Jamie’s answer: Linus.

Me: “Linus. Why did you choose Linus?”

Him: “Because it was Linus who believed.”

Following the game, one of my friends joked, “I had no idea your lives revolved so much around pumpkins.

They obviously do not read this blog.

Harlem Globetrotters

One of Jamie’s bucket-list items has been to see the Harlem Globetrotters so we were thrilled to score tickets. I knew they were funny but I did not anticipate two hours of non-stop, interactive, gut-busting hilarity. Bottom line: We loved them! When I asked Jamie about his favorite part, he immediately said, “Watching Bode.”He nailed it. Though we all loved the game, Bode was out-of-his-gourd excited for everything. The above picture on the right is when he grabbed Haddie to rush the court to do the YMCA, one of only countless fun moments that evening.

Sweet, Sweet Skiing

I have lived in Colorado for 10 years and there are still several major resorts I have yet to ski including Copper Mountain, Steamboat and Winter Park. Last weekend, we spent a few days at the latter. Stay tuned for all the fun details of our Winter Park vacation.

Just let it be known you may not hear from me for a while. After such a fabulous Winter Break, reentry into the real world is going to be bumpy.

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Colorado, Family, holidays, Humor, pumpkins, skiing

Loveland Ski Area: Santa Sightings and a Boy Converted

December 27, 2012 By

Jamie is a pretty low-maintenance guy so when he requests something, I really try and do it. And that request was to hit Loveland Ski Area on Christmas Eve day. Though I was crazy-busy trying to pull everything together for our party that evening, I loathe procrastination. I had shopped and wrapped presents weeks ago so had no problem doing my final food prep work the day prior. I rubbed it in just a little bit with this tweet:
And I’m so glad we did it. This is the second time we’ve skied Loveland on Christmas Eve and we have vowed to make it an annual tradition when we’re in Colorado. Not only is it a mere 40-minute drive from our house but the slopes are gloriously devoid of crowds.

This was our first ski day of the season so a half-day trip was perfect as we attempt to get our legs in shape. Bode was the big question mark. While Hadley has taken to skiing like a fish in water, Bode only decided he liked skiing on our final few days on the slopes last year. Our fingers were crossed he would maintain that same level of enthusiasm.

After getting their equipment in Loveland Valley (the beginner/intermediate area), we were about 20 minutes early for their lesson. I suggested  they take a quick run off Chair 7. Both kids were game but then Hadley realized the tech had set her bindings too small for her skis. Uncle Chris took her back inside and I looked dubiously at Bode.

“Do you want to wait for Sissy?”

“No, I can handle it.”

Stunned by his bravado (was this the same tepid kid from last season?) I ignored my doubts and let him go for it. He confidently waved at us from the lift and then bravely made his way down the slope by himself.He was hooked and we knew we were home-free. Jamie, Chris and I left them with their fabulous, fun and helpful instructors April and Rachel (seriously request them if you are there).And had a blast! Jamie and I recently bought ourselves new ski equipment from Powder7, which offers killer deals on all-things skiing and riding. We were excited to try them out for the first time and relieved we made some great choices.

Brothers

My favorite gift: skiing with this dude

Of course, a trip to Loveland on Christmas Eve is not complete without a visit from the Man in Red.On Bode’s first ski day ever on Christmas Eve three years ago at Loveland, I snapped this picture and had to put them side-by-side.
My, how they’ve grown.

And here’s to many more years of spending our Christmas Eve at Loveland.

Filed Under: Bode, Colorado, Family travel, Hadley, holidays, Humor, skiing, travel, Uncategorized

A Stellar Snowmamas Summit and the Hunk of Sizzling Beef (literally)

December 6, 2012 By

For the past four years, I’ve headed to Park City Mountain Resort the first weekend in December for a Snowmamas summit to welcome all the new recruits. Flying into Utah is just like coming home.And staying at the luxurious Silver Star condos is what I wish I could call home. The purpose of the weekend is to ski, get to know the new Snowmamas (and Papa!) and review the nuts and bolts of contributing to Snowmamas.com’s cutting-edge social media site that is intended to make ski/snowboard vacations easier for families.

And what better way to lend advice than to delve into Park City Mountain Resort’s many activities including the Flying Eagle zip line and alpine slide.We really have an impressive group who were selected from hundred of applicants (see them here). That’s me waving at the very back, like the party crasher I am. #PhotoBomb

We also ate a lot of great food.  I had my doubts about trying Asian restaurant Yuki Arashi because I hate sushi. But then I met the Wagyu Beef Tataki that I cooked on a 500-degree Himalayan sea-salt block. It was the very opposite of disgusting raw fish.

Every Friday at 10 a.m. during the season, Snowmamas does an on-mountain meet-up and any parent is invited to ski/snowboard. It is a fantastic way to socialize and meet other snow-loving people.

Just stay away from Lisa (second from the left). She’s a bit overprotective.

I had to cut out a day early to make it back for our ward Christmas party but there’s nothing quite like flying home to Colorado’s mountains…and then wandering around lost at the airport parking lot. Because nothing says “Welcome home” quite like forgetting where you parked.

Filed Under: skiing, Utah

It’s a fall frenzy: in pictures!

November 4, 2012 By

My computer refuses to read my iPhone picture files so I have a backlog of pictures waiting to be uploaded. Which means I’ve had to email myself each picture and then save it on my desktop. Which means I can’t be bothered to do it.

However, fall is flying by and I’d be remiss if I didn’t make mention of at least a few things we’ve been up to. Haddie has started piano lessons and Bode has wrapped up soccer. Other activities include:

Swim team at the YMCA. Haddie is loving it and I’m loving I can go workout in the weight room during it.

Except for on Fridays when I bring Bode and his bestie Sean to swim. And yes, I said swim. If you’ve followed Bode’s swimming missteps, you’ll realize how truly miraculous it is that he’s finally swimming.

Then there was the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey’s DRAGONS.

Tennis. We’ve been playing every Monday night for FHE for almost two months. Bode, in particular, is obsessed and is begging me for lessons.  I told him he has to wait ’til spring. Even this Canuck has standards about running around the tennis court in the snow. But apparently no standards when it comes to taking over the skate park and using the bumps as a net.

Bode started basketball at the YMCA. Though all the players were a year older and a full head taller, he held his own. This is Jamie coaching nervous Bode about the rules moments before his first basketball game ever. It’s called death-bed repentance.

There was stargazing with our besties at the Pine Valley Ranch Park observatory.

That activity deserves an entire post unto itself. Which I plan to write in all my spare time.

Though I’ve been crazy-busy with work and meetings, I try to carve out a few days every week for an adventure. I’ve become moderately obsessed with biking every trail at North Table Mountain Park in Golden.
Well, in this case hike-a-biking because some parts were STEEP.

Then, there was Mount Falcon Park. Denver recently received a healthy dose of snow so my hike started with views like this. And changed to this as I reached the summit.
And yep, I was in my element.

Speaking of snow, we hit the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Expo where we skied.
If you count that makeshift ramp.

The kids also attempted the Gibbons’ Slacklines (think: hip tightrope), an insanely popular up-and-coming sport. They attempted it over and over again, only venturing out a few feet. Apparently balance ain’t our thing.

And my favorite activity of all: the Denver Curling Club brought a curling demo! As a Canuck mom, I finally felt like I was not failing my little half-breeds in the Ways of the Motherland.

Lest you think we’re all play and no work ’round here, service is always worked into our routine. Here are my boys at building clean-up day at the church. Haddie’s charter school threw a huge harvest festival that was a throwback to yesteryear with butter making, straw crowns and corn husk doll stations, chili and a charming dragon play.

My little bird

And, of course, these activities don’t even touch upon all our Halloween festivities, pumpkin patches and parties. This week, I’m supposed to go to Dallas for a conference Thursday through Sunday. Poor Bode and Jamie are sick so I’ll be nursing them back to health with chicken noodle soup and lots of snuggles the next few days.

I think we’ll all welcome the break after a fabulous but frenzied fall.

Filed Under: biking, Bode, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, outdoors, skiing

Just call me Merida

July 6, 2012 By

On the 4th of July, we took the family to see Pixar’s Brave. Set in the highlands of 10th century Scotland, skilled archer Merida caused some good, old-fashioned chaos in the kingdom.

We all really, really liked it and there were two things I loved most: 1) It captured the mother-daughter dynamic with all of its glorious conflicts and joys and 2) It’s about time there was a red-headed, curly-haired heroine.

Now, I’m not one to walk around saying “that could totally be me” about Disney or Hollywood characters but throughout the film, her stubborn, free-spirited, nature-loving disposition resonated with me.

Jamie thought so as well and posted this Facebook status update and picture:

Amber Johnson the original Brave? If they decide to make a Broadway play out of the movie I’ll have to insist on Amber playing Princess Merida. 

That caused me to dig up a photo from my past when I competed in the archery biathlon at Bryce Canyon’s Winter Festival (I posted that article here).

I mean, just check-out this ace shooter.

Of course, Merida didn’t have sweat seeping from her armpits.

But I’m sure that’ll change in Brave II.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Humor, outdoors, skiing Tagged With:

What could have been a big-time mothering fail at Park City Mountain Resort

April 13, 2012 By

I never intended to write a week’s worth of posts about our vacation to Utah but when it’s just that good, I want to relive every last minute of it.

Plus, my memory sucks and that’s the reason why I have a blog so I can remember it all.

Our first day at Park City Mountain Resort was icy and, if we’re being honest here, pretty miserable. But the latter part of the week, the snow softened and though it was heavy and wet, it was so much more fun. Couple that with balmy temperatures (50+ degrees, really?) and I fell in love with spring skiing.

With the exception that we were too lazy to discard some of our clothing layers so were dripping in sweat by the end of the day.

Sorry for that visual.

On our final day, Jamie and I had the best time together. Neither of us are experts at moguls but we found a bumps run, Powder Keg, that was fun to navigate because of the heavier, slower snow.

We raced down at the end of the day to ski with both kids. Bode had an amazing transformation (see yesterday’s post) and we also ran into Haddie’s Signature 5 class.
And I became that psycho mom who was snapping pictures each time she turned.
I mean, don’t you just want to pinch those cheeks that are buried somewhere underneath that helmet, those goggles and hair?

Jamie skied with Bode and Hadley and was dying to take me to Powder Monkey, one of Park City Mountain Resort’s ultra-cool Adventure Alley “Snowbugs”–trails designed just for kids. The problem was it was it was at the very top of the mountain and would have taken us a few chairlifts to get there. The resort closed in 45 minutes and there was a very real possibility we’d get stranded somewhere.

This is me we’re talking about.

So, we instead rode to the top of Bonanza lift and did another Snowbug trail. We were having a great time together and were hurriedly making our way down the mountain…and then I took a wrong turn. Instead of staying on Homerun (a nice, easy green), I led us to the point of no return. This intersection had three trails: Silver Queen (a double blue advanced intermediate), Crescent and Silver Skis (both black diamond, expert terrain).

Haddie is a solid intermediate skier but as I looked down at Silver Queen’s steep, bumpy terrain a feeling of dread came over me. I didn’t let her in on my trepidation and explained our predicament.

“OK, let’s do it!” she fearlessly said.

“Really?”

I don’t know why I was surprised since we didn’t have any other options, other than being carried down on ski patrol’s stretcher.

And so she gunned it down that mountain, never complaining and even squealing with glee.This was her last run of the 2011/12 ski season.

And makes me think she’s going to blow 2012/13 out of the water.

Or rather, snow.

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Family travel, Hadley, Humor, skiing, Utah

Spring Skiing Park City Mountain Resort

April 3, 2012 By

Spring skiing is a gamble. When we were at Park City Mountain Resort two years ago for Spring Break, we had the best conditions ever–over 30 inches of fresh powder with a 110-inch base.

For the non-skiers of the world, this is the equivalent of giving Jamie a free pass to spend the entire day in his pumpkin patch.

The 2011-2012 season has been a completely different story. Many ski resorts have had their worst snow conditions in 30 years and PCMR was no exception. Though the mountain is still covered in snow (though patchy in places), the surrounding areas are completely devoid of it.

It’s surreal to be on a ski vacation without a lot of white stuff.

There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Though the snow wasn’t the greatest, we still had one of our favorite vacations ever. It also afforded us to the opportunity to have some adventures off the slopes. On Wednesday, Jamie and I played hookey after we dropped the kids off in ski school and hiked to the Park City Hill Summit where a bold “PC” is scribbled across it.

Allegedly. We overshot it completely so never actually saw the symbol.

Our first day skiing at PCMR confirmed what I have long suspected: I absolutely suck at skiing icy conditions. (This is a generous observation).

But then a funny thing happened: it rained. I thought this was be the worst thing that could happen but I was wrong. The moisture actually softened up the snow so our final couple of days were soft, slushy and FUN. I fell in love with spring skiing for the first time.

Though don’t get me wrong: I’d take 30 inches of fresh pow ANYDAY over slush.

Next year?

Tomorrow: Stay tuned for why Jamie’s mom is a pretty darn cool high-flying, adventurous Grandma!!!

© Crazy Bloggin’ Canuck–A Denver Mom’s Blog
Filed Under: Family travel, Humor, skiing, Utah
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