ive only been skiing 3 years, and the wife just started this past February on a work trip to Deer Valley. She really took to it, and really wanted to take another trip west this season. How could i say no? The other caveat was that if we took another trip, our 35mo old would be going as well. It would be our first real family long distance vacation. Dad was terrified, as the ankle biter is "active" to put it very mildly. Taking a 3yr old, requires quite a bit more things to consider, like childcare, travel time, etc...etc. The last time lil Fleur flew was a nightmare.
This was a pretty short planning time frame, so i was scrambling to find the right place. Of course my original thought was Utah, due to direct flights and easy access and somewhat of a bit of familiarity. I didnt want to do the PC resorts, as ive been there mulitiple times, including DV already once this year. I was thinking maybe snowbasin, or alta. After looking at flights and rental cars, i nixed that. Too expensive. Next, i thought Winter Park. Ive been there before, there is some affordable lodging, rental cars from Denver are cheap, and its a short direct flight, and they seemed to have a good childcare program. Flights were reasonable, but i waited a few days too long and directs to Denver went up to $900.
Was starting to think it wouldnt happen. But, saw that Steamboat had an airfare sale going on. Tickets were $300+. Id heard great things about the childcare, and total travel time, wasnt that bad. 5-6hrs with one connection. I pulled the trigger and booked a trip Sat-Thu.
So last Saturday we get to CLT before 7am, with plenty of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse loaded on the iPad and off we went. 'Lil Fleur did really good after an initial meltdown walking to our gate. Got to Hayden on time, and to our condo in SB about 2pm. Our condo had a shuttle to the base about every 10 minutes, so we put our stuff up and went to the base and to the Slopeside Grill for some beers and pizza. it was warm and sunny Saturday, very laid back atmosphere which was great. Went back to the condo and Miss Fleur and I had a private party and over induldged in Jack Daniels which wasnt the wisest move...but, a night to remember celebrating our first family vacation. :>)
Sunday of course was a cluster, being the first day, logisitics, getting skis, kid to day care, hangover etc. It was snowing a bit at the base which was good. Finally got on the gondola around 10am. Wife has brand new boots shes never worn, and half way up the gondy, she says they are killing her. She has to take them off. Decides there is no way she can ski them, so she stays on the gondola and goes back down to a boot shop to get them worked on...great. I get off at the top and ski over the the Sunshine area. The wind is really blowing, and its snowing, but had a great time making a few laps of Tomahawk, and the other blues over there. Blues is a bit of a stretch for these runs as they are really gentle. The only thing i can figure is that there is a bit of pitch at the top which would be harder for a novice, but the majority of these runs are pretty flat. really wide runs, and great for begginers. Was fun cruising this area, getting the ski legs back. I believe this photo was from Sunday...
Wife calls and says she is back on the gondy. So i ski over to meet her. She wants to start on Why Not, which is a narrow cat track and IMO a horrible choice for a begginer, but off we go. It doesnt go well. Its really blowing at this point. Her feet still hurt, and she isnt doing well. a bit of a freakout moment. We finally get to the Thunderhead lift and i tell her we can ski to the base or take the lift back up and take the Gondy down. She IS NOT skiing anymore. We take the lift up, head to the Gondy and its closed, with the rest up the upper mountain. I thought she was going to breakdown right there. The people at the gondy said they were about to start downloading the thunderhead lift and that they would shuttle people to the base from there. So, i took my first ever lift ride down a mountain. Oh, and the wife missed the chair, so i was the first one downloading and getting all the funny looks..lol. Turns out we were not the only ones, as a steady stream of people downloaded. Got back to the base, took Mrs F to the boot shop again where dude worked on her boots a bit more to her satisfaction. End of Day one.
Day two, Monday. Wife decides to take the day off. I encouraged it. I had a good day and skiid a bunch. It snowed some more as i recall, and there was still some fresh to be had from day before. I ventured over to Morningside which was cool. Windy again, but nothing closed.
Day 3 Tuesday the wife was back at it. Did much better. Did Wally World(the nickname for the Sunshine area), and took her down Cowboy coffee into Morning side which is a low angle groomed run with the oppurtunity to duck off trail into some widely spaced, low angle trees. Took the lift out to the completely windscoured top, which was like ice skating; over to Buddys. She made it down Buddys Run in good style.
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The day went so well...and the storm that i was watching appeared to be taking shpae for thursday, so i called the airline and the condo folks and extended the trip to Saturday....
Day off- Wednesday
I took a planned day off and kept the kid. Wife did a full day lesson. She was completely fired up after her lesson, as she had done a few black runs and even a venture into the Morningside trees with the instructor for the first time. She was ready to pwn me the next day. Calling me out and proclaiming to be the best skier on the Mtn. Her stoke was high.
Day 4 thursday-
It had snowed Wednesday night as promised, although not as much as was hoping. Still, they were reporting 4 inches i think, and there were spots with much more. Wife and i skiied together having a great time. I got us started early and were on the Gondy by 8:30am. Place seemed empty. It was sweet. I had rented some fatter skis for the day, but she was still on her short, skinny skis, but still managed to make her way thru some fresh pow. Once things started to get tracked/chopped up she was struggling. We had lunch, took a few more runs and it started snowing again. She tapped out after a run through Morningside and then a trip down Buddys Run which was literally a sandblaster to the face as it was storming pretty heavily with graupel. I stayed out, the snow continued and eventually the winds died down, and apparently the people had all gone home after lunch. There were literally untouched lines at 2pm.
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my lone tracks at 3pm Thursday [VIMEO]62556227[/VIMEO]
Skiers in trees off Sunshine lift 3pm Thursday
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over the boot late in the day..
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Day 5 Friday-
Wife and i skid together again...she, at this point had fancied her self a bit of a tree skier..
so we skiied from Sunshine down Sundial and back into the Morningside trees. Remember, this a girl who first put on skis the first week of February and was on 146cm beginner skis....Still a lot of fresh tracks to be had in the Morningside trees. We are both new to trees, and i was especially concious of tree wells. She tried to stay on previously laid tracks, but at one point, she "improvised" a bit. I was somewhat shocked by the line she took...up and around, and banked around an area of trees....and then crashed at the bottom. I had taken a different line and was below her. I was sure she had skied straight into a well, but i could see her and was relieved. I skied down a bit to where i could see her, asked if she was ok, and she said she was. One ski was about 6 ft above her, as was one pole and lucky we could even find them. She was in a tangled mess, but ok. I told her not to move and began to side step up to her, to help. She wanted me to take her other ski off, which i informed her was not a good idea. I finally got her ski and pole and got it in position for her. I told her she wasnt going to be able to get up normally and of course she didnt believe me...but quickly discovered she couldnt, when her poles just sank up to the grips when she tried to get up. Finally got her up again and on our way. Got to Morningside lift, and as I was turning around to get the chair...WHAM!, i got knocked in the head extremely hard by the chair. Saw stars. Still managed to get the chair, and wife didnt see what happened and i Still dont know what happend but i suspect the liftie had grabbed the chair and let go acccidentley and it popped me...my head still hurts today. not sure if i had a concussion or what....
Getting to the top, we skied over to Buddys Run taking a route thru some easy fun trees. Wife decides to thread two trees right before it gets to the run...im behind her. There is a little ditch between the trees. She goes down it, and the next thing i see is the back of both of her ski boots as she double ejects and does a complete front flip with a roll....i know she had just broken her neck, or was hurt badly. I skied around the two trees down to her, where she was laying on her back laughing, saying that was the funnest thing she had done....FARK. i was relieved.
That pretty much ended the day. My days got mixed up, and i know some of this is out of order, and a lot left incomplete. I know at one point Mrs Fleur led me purposely down a run that led to the option of two black runs of which we had no clue if they had been groomed or were bumped up...luckily one had been groomed recently and wasnt bumped up badly, and she made it down fine, something i would have never done my first year.....many other moments like that. I cant tell you how extremely proud i am of her.
Steamboat is great. People are nice. The facilties for children are first class. Our daughter couldnt wait to go each day. Conditions were great for the most part, there is terrain for everyone, and it seems like a great place to try and step up what you are comfomrtable with...
We left yesterday morning and it had been snowing blower type pow all night and continued as we left. I bet it was awesome up there today...
Oh yeah...forgot. The Gondola ride down Friday, we happened to catch the Gold 50th Anniversary one...its painted Gold. Has a time line of the resort around the interior which i couldnt seem to photograph...apparently its a highly sought after ride...all i could get was the plaque inside.
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