We had a great Thanksgiving weekend. We stayed overnight at the resort on Wednesday night and skied on Thanksgiving morning. It was a fun, warm day with the kids and we made it back to Jen's family dinner by 1:30 p.m.
Here we are atop the Little Cloud Bowl. A paraglider had just flown overhead and we stopped to watch. You can see it going down canyon.
Then, on Sunday night, is was just Jen and I who stayed up there and enjoyed another warm, sunny ski day the next day. It was our first day on the snow without the kids this season. We enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the clear skies, as the valley was socked in the haze.
I forgot to mention...I lost my new iphone while up at the resort. I used the "find my phone" app on Jen's phone and it worked perfectly. That's the second time I've used it to perfection to find my lost phone.
We made it up to Snowbird on Saturday for our first day of the season as a family. As planned we left later in the day and then skied until the lifts closed. We find this to be the most fun if we aren't expecting powder because we have the slopes almost to ourselves for most of the time. When we arrived at the base it was raining and it didn't look fun at all. Jen wanted to bail right then and there but I kept a positive outlook and made her wait a few minutes because I could tell the rain was just about to turn to snow and sure enough it did. It was a wet snow but still much better than skiing in rain. It turned out to be such a fun first day. Both kids ripped it up on the slopes. It's amazing how they don't forget over the long summer, like riding a bike I guess. Below are a few pictures. We're now getting excited for Thanksgiving!
Jen in her new coat.
Hendrix had been hitting this jump all day and he crashed about every time. Still, he kept trying but as you can see he was a little apprehensive in the end. Lily never had any problems with it.
This storm was good one. I always hope for an early season storm like this, as it builds up a nice base. The danger is if we don't get additional storms to follow-up then the surface of the snow will rot and cause an unstable layer for future storms which builds the avalanche danger in the future. But still, 50" over 3 days up at Snowbird is cause to celebrate.
Courtesy of Snowbird's Website
The only thing that would have made it better was if the resorts were already open. I guess I could have gone up anyway and hiked for my turns but I had a lazy weekend with my family. Instead, I've been impatiently checking to see if they will open early but it looks like they are sticking to this Saturday which has been the planned opening date all along.(Update: Snowbird just announced they will now open Thursday.) I think Brighton is opening tomorrow and others maybe midweek but I'll wait until Saturday and go with the family.
My daughter and I did get out and enjoy some sledding at the local park. That's something I haven't done in a long time.
It's November and just like last year, it's warm and dry. Perfect for riding the bike, terrible for skiing. Technically, the resorts aren't scheduled to open until closer to Thanksgiving but if there was snow, they would open early as they have done in past. We did get about 14" at the resort last week but the storm was quickly followed by warm temps. There isn't much left now. Halloween was the warmest that I can ever remember. Still, it could change pretty quick and I'm hoping it does because I miss skiing.
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying myself while riding carefree on the bike. Nothing too intense and the fall colors are still putting on a great show. I had an Infinite Cycles team meeting last night and it got me to thinking about what my goals will be next year. I'm hoping that I'll be able to do much of what I did this year, with an emphasis on building up later in the season. I guess I'll wait to see if I get into Lotoja again before I make too many plans.
Off topic but Halloween was so much fun this year with my wife and kids. They are at the perfect age, and eat it up. Yes, my wife too. She'll always be at the perfect age for any holiday. We spent all day going to parades and parties at school, followed by marathon trick'o treating at night.
This was, in my opinion, the best house on the block. You know it's good when the kids are scared to ring the doorbell. Even for free candy.
