Jackson Skiing

Another ski vacation.  Gotta do something to make it through winter.  This time the winter was totally different.  Nice and sunny.  My kind of skiing.  They had some inversion happening though, so when we left our hotel in town it was 18 below!!  Not to worry, at the top of the mountain it was 30 degrees, so we stayed up high all day.  It was crazy though.  When you would ski to the bottom you would suddenly cross a line and all of the sudden it was freezing.  Due to sun and no recent snow, the snow conditions weren't super awesome.  But it was still pretty good.  I can't decide:  Better to have crappy weather but great snow or sunshine and crappy snow.  Pretty sure I lean towards the sun side of that question, which makes serious skiers crazy.  Which is why I'll never be a serious skier.

This was my first time skiing Jackson.  I really liked it, but it sure is steep!  Like really steep!  There's no messing around.  There are hardly any green runs on the whole mountain, so because of that everyone who skis there actually knows what they're doing.  It was really nice to not have to try to get around the skiers who don't know what they're doing.  They have a tram that takes you to the top of the mountain.  Jake and Zack would be quick to tell you that when you ski from the very top to the bottom you ski 4000 vertical feet.  This is an amazing number apparently.  Sage and I only went up the tram once.  Sage was really scared, even though we knew she could do it.  When you get to the top they explain that the runs off the top are experts only, so if you're not an expert ride the tram down.  Sage thought she was going to die.  But then she did a great job going down.  Even handed a guy the ski he lost when he fell.  I'm sure it feels good having a 10 year old hand you your ski.  She was so proud of herself for making it down.  Now she'll tell you she's an expert skier.  Not a professional, but an expert.

Anyway, we had good times in town.  We went to yummy places to eat, enjoyed the pool and hot tub, and did some shopping.  Jake made everyone's night when he let all of the kids spend $30 on some type of souvenir.  We usually make them buy their own souvenirs, so this was pretty exciting.  We skied more than 25,000 feet every day, which is pretty awesome I think.  Sage skied every one of those feet with us, which is pretty amazing since I was so tired by the end of the day I could barely make it down the last run.  Kate was quick to point out that her legs are the same length as Sage's "little legs," so it's pretty amazing she skied that much as well.  And it is.  Jake, Zack, and Kate would take off on really crazy steep stuff while Sage and I stuck to the groomers.  Which I was fine with.  It will be a sad day when Sage ditches me to go on the crazy steep stuff as well.

Waiting in line for the tram

At the very top!

Jake and Kate's glasses after being outside

Taking a break in the lodge

I'm sitting in the back because....

Zack drove!

This burger place was yummy

They're waiting for me to make it down

Too bad she wouldn't let us buy this shirt for her!

January Happenings

January is not my favorite month.  In fact, we could safely call it my least favorite month.  But we survived, and even managed to have some fun.  January was mostly full of skiing.  I like winter while skiing, but once I'm done skiing it can go away.  We decided to try the Ikon pass this year, since you can only ski at Park City for so long without going crazy.  With the Ikon Pass we get to ski 5 days at Deer Valley.  Those 5 days are glorious.  It's a 15 minute drive to a really fun resort.  But this year we've been even more spoiled due to owning a lot in Red Ledges.  Red Ledges has Deer Crest passes that owners can use.  That means you drive up to the St Regis and they park your car.  So you get to drive past the huge line of cars trying to find parking and wave as you go by.  Once at the St Regis you head downstairs to the club where they have breakfast laid out, jars full of candy, drinks, ice cream, and a delicious lunch when you're ready for a break.  It's been amazing and we're now super spoiled.  This is not how we normally ski, and it's going to be painful to go back.  But we're enjoying it while we can!  My friend and I signed up for a women's ski clinic every week at Solitude.  I loved learning how I'm actually supposed to ski, but it was also painful to see how much I don't know.  But it was way out of my comfort zone, so I'm proud of myself for doing it.  The idea was I would be able to keep up with my kids more.  Not sure that happened, but still good for me.

We convinced Jake to take us to dinner after skiing on New Years Day

Zack always orders the biggest thing on the menu

Made Mom's oatmeal fudge bars to remember her.  10 years since she passed away.  So sad.

Jake, Kate, and I went skiing.  Zack was unable to come due to incomplete school work.  To increase his torture we went to Five Guys

Beautiful sunset

Kate made some donuts with our new air fryer

Sage and her friend drew portraits of each other.  Sage's was definitely lacking.

When we left our house to ski it was super foggy.  But up at the resort it was a beautiful sunny day.  Our house is under those clouds

Being spoiled at the Deer Crest Club

Sage kept getting more food and only eating a couple of bites of it.  She could barely handle the excitement

Sage with a smoothy all over her face

We did our first ever job fair at BYU.  When we walked in I told Jake we've come full circle.  It was super stressful to figure out, but it went well.  

Deer Crest again.  

Doing yoga for a young women activity

The view skiing

Steamboat Skiing!

We got to go ski in Steamboat Colorado last month.  It was a lot of fun!  Jake and Kate had been there before but it was the first time for the rest of us.  It was a really fun place to ski.  Smallish resort, small town, really good snow.  But it was SO COLD!!  Like below zero on the mountain.  This is the problem with ski trips.  You're locked in to the dates, not knowing what the weather will be.  And it's winter.  So most likely the weather will not be ideal (as in 70 degrees and sunny).  I prefer bluebird ski days.  Powder is nice and all, but give me the sun and warm any day.  We braved the cold one night to go to the city hot springs.  It was really cool.  Our hair all turned to ice.  It was a fun little trip, and the roads were even good!!

Warming up in the lodge 

It's no longer possible to get a normal picture of my kids

Yummy mexican food

Do we look cold?  

Decorated place mats at dinner

Getting ready to ski and thinking, "why are we doing this?  It's freezing!"

The snow was really good

This is what Sage does so we can find her

Beautiful Steamboat below