Another Powder Day With the Kids (And some other stuff.)

Over the weekend we had a storm cycle that put some nice totals at the resorts.  I say resorts but I think it's just Snowbird and Alta still open at this point.  Jen had a work service project on Saturday so I took the kids to enjoy some late season snow.  The snow was deep but pretty heavy which made for some smooth buttery turns.  It's snowing now in the valley so I won't say the end has arrived yet.  Hopefully Jen and I can get up there again before it's all done.

The Girl getting ready to drop in for the first run of the day.  As you can see, we were the only ones there.  

The boy getting in some nice turns on the smooth snow.

Taking a break in the trees.

Selfy on the lift.  You see how wet and heavy the snow was.

The girl helping the boy with his skis.

The clouds made things feel a bit eerie.

Love these mountains.  That's the Boy skiing at the bottom.  Again, we just about had the resort to ourselves in the morning.  One of the things I love about skiing in April.

Meanwhile, I've been riding my bike.  I raced for the first time this season a couple of weeks ago at the UVU Classic.  I had a cold coming on so I was a bit worried and at first it didn't seem to affect me but as we made the climb up to the town of Eureka I could feel my energy slip.  Soon I was off the back and later I was dropped by some of my teammates.  I worked with another teammate up the climb and then again on the flats back to Benjamin just to be dropped again, riding the last 10 miles solo to the finish.  It rained and hailed on me toward the end and there was even a bit of lighting so it made things somewhat miserable but overall I'd say it was fun.  I was disappointed in my performance but looking at the time between this years and lasts I did the race about 10 minutes faster so that was somewhat satisfying.  I wish I could have stayed with my teammates but it wasn't in the cards. I have my second race this Saturday at the Antelope Island Classic.  No doing extra laps by mistake for me this year.  Hopefully, I'll be completely over my cold by then as well.  Yeah, my cold has lasted the past 2 weeks.  They always seem to last forever for me.  It actually hit Jen much worse than anyone.  I hope she'll be feeling better soon.

True Powder Day....with the Kids.

As the spring storms lined up this week I could tell the Wednesday was going to be one of those truly great powder days so I cleared up my schedule to go.  I invited to Jen to go with me but her work schedule wouldn't allow.  But she proceeded to suggest that I take the kids with me as they are off track from school.  As anyone who skis with young kids knows there is a difference skiing with and without them.  Especially on a powder day.  The more Jen thought about it the more she became convinced that I needed to take them.  I think she was just jealous that there was powder to be had and she couldn't come.  Reluctantly I agreed to pack their stuff and bring them along.  

Amazingly they did really well.  The snow was deep but not really light so I was a little worried about how they would get along.  My daughter was the most excited for the deep stuff and she lead the way on our first run through the trees where it got really good.  My son thought it was way cool up to point where he fell the first time and he had a hard time getting up.  Still, he was having fun again a few minutes later and we were able to hit Gad II and Mineral Basin before lunch.  They had just opened Mineral when we got there and it was DEEP!  I was worried as we went down the cat track to Powder Paradise because there were lots of slides across the traverse making it tricky but the kids didn't even seem to notice.  They went first down the steep slope as I watched from the top and they rocked it all the way down.  That left me for a full on, high speed powder run which I really enjoyed.  The Boy fell a few times on the lower part of Mineral and I think that sapped some of his energy so we left him in the warming hut while the Girl and I had refills on powder.  

After Lunch, we hit the trees around Wilbere and later the terrain park which we all enjoyed.  This week is the last for ski school for the season and it's suppose to storm again.  After that, a warm up in the weather so I plan to ride my bike as much as I can.  Always something to look forward to.

The Girl and Boy riding together up Wilbere.  I thought it was so cute I had to take a picture.  They insisted riding together for every run on this lift.