Our annual ski trip to Steamboat was once again a total success. Every year we try to sneak away for a few days before Christmas to ski as a family. This year was a little different since we had Madeline and couldn't ski all together. Even though Mike and I rotated skiing with the kids we had just as good of a time as always. We left on Sunday after Sacrament Mtg so we could take advantage of the daylight. It was a good thing too because the roads leaving I70 were pretty icy and dangerous. We were blessed to get there without any problems.
Monday morning we woke up and it was -4F with a real feel of -13F so we opted to wait a little longer before getting everyone ready to go ski. Mike took the first shift with the kids and skiied Tomahawk and some of the runs coming off of the Tomahawk run. Even though the temperatures were still pretty cold the sun seemed to warm everyone up enough that no one was uncomfortable. I met them up at the Thunderhead Lodge at the top of the Gondola around noon to bring lunch and hand over the baby to Mike. After lunch we headed back over to Sunshine Peak to ski Tomahawk and High Noon. I loved being able to watch them all go off the jumps and ski fast down Tomahawk. I ended up going ahead a few times so that I could take pictures of all the kids as they flew down the mountain. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.
On Tuesday we followed pretty much the same routine with the kids. The weather was sunny again which made for another great day of skiing. As I was heading up the Gondola to bring lunch I got to the top and realized that I had forgotten to strap on the backpack with the lunch in it. Ooops. So, the kids got really expensive burgers and fries for lunch at the lodge and then the kids and I headed out to ski. Since I didn't have the backpack that also meant I didn't have my big camera. Oh well. Phone photos would have to be good enough. In some ways it was nice to not worry about photos today and just ski and have fun with the kids.
Our last day of skiing was not sunny at all but we still had a great time. The visibility in the early morning wasn't great but got better mid day. The kids skiied Tomahawk, High Noon, Lower High Noon, West Side, Quickdraw, Flintlock, Spike and Broadway. Everyone's favorite run was probably a toss up between High Noon and Tomahawk. On our second to last run on Tomahawk I was stopped after the first 2 steep pitches on Tomahawk to take photos of the kids jumping. As Abby jumped I noticed that she didn't stop at the next rolling hill. After all the kids jumped we raced to try and catch up with her. I sent Andrew speeding down the run to try and find her. I was nervous the entire run but was comforted when I saw her at the bottom happy as a clam. Andrew never did catch up to her before the run was finished. Needless to say we had a little chat about staying together. The kids all skiied so well this year. Andrew's form was the best it had ever looked and I know it was because he was in such good shape from swimming. He definitely looked better than I did and I know this will be the year his skill level with exceed mine on the skis.
Monday morning we woke up and it was -4F with a real feel of -13F so we opted to wait a little longer before getting everyone ready to go ski. Mike took the first shift with the kids and skiied Tomahawk and some of the runs coming off of the Tomahawk run. Even though the temperatures were still pretty cold the sun seemed to warm everyone up enough that no one was uncomfortable. I met them up at the Thunderhead Lodge at the top of the Gondola around noon to bring lunch and hand over the baby to Mike. After lunch we headed back over to Sunshine Peak to ski Tomahawk and High Noon. I loved being able to watch them all go off the jumps and ski fast down Tomahawk. I ended up going ahead a few times so that I could take pictures of all the kids as they flew down the mountain. The weather couldn't have been more perfect.
On Tuesday we followed pretty much the same routine with the kids. The weather was sunny again which made for another great day of skiing. As I was heading up the Gondola to bring lunch I got to the top and realized that I had forgotten to strap on the backpack with the lunch in it. Ooops. So, the kids got really expensive burgers and fries for lunch at the lodge and then the kids and I headed out to ski. Since I didn't have the backpack that also meant I didn't have my big camera. Oh well. Phone photos would have to be good enough. In some ways it was nice to not worry about photos today and just ski and have fun with the kids.
Our last day of skiing was not sunny at all but we still had a great time. The visibility in the early morning wasn't great but got better mid day. The kids skiied Tomahawk, High Noon, Lower High Noon, West Side, Quickdraw, Flintlock, Spike and Broadway. Everyone's favorite run was probably a toss up between High Noon and Tomahawk. On our second to last run on Tomahawk I was stopped after the first 2 steep pitches on Tomahawk to take photos of the kids jumping. As Abby jumped I noticed that she didn't stop at the next rolling hill. After all the kids jumped we raced to try and catch up with her. I sent Andrew speeding down the run to try and find her. I was nervous the entire run but was comforted when I saw her at the bottom happy as a clam. Andrew never did catch up to her before the run was finished. Needless to say we had a little chat about staying together. The kids all skiied so well this year. Andrew's form was the best it had ever looked and I know it was because he was in such good shape from swimming. He definitely looked better than I did and I know this will be the year his skill level with exceed mine on the skis.
