Steamboat 2012

We came back a day early with a storm coming in and no chance to ski today. Arriving late last night, we opened Christmas presents, which were mysteriously under the tree when we got here.

Our week in Steamboat was great. Kyle was here late Thursday night, and the kids were excited to see him after they got home from their last half day of school. We’d packed up and we left, having a fairly easy drive to Steamboat. We got in late, and I was tired, but it wasn’t as bad a few trips through the pass.

We had a nice two story condo at the top of the Legacy hotel just outside Steamboat. This was the view from the kids loft.

Tia and I were in another room, a cave almost, which had me sleeping late on Saturday. We got up and headed to breakfast, leaving Kendall behind. She said her ankle hurt and didn’t want to ski. It’s nice that the kids are old enough we can do that.

We had a quick breakfast of bagel sandwiches. In the line I’d seen a chocolate croissant and grabbed one. Tia followed my lead, but Delaney really liked them, eating half of each of ours. I decided to make some the next day and bought things that night.

On the mountain we started out with an easy run down from the gondola, and then moved to a blue run on the right side of the peak.

It wasn’t too cold, sunny, and I thought we were having fun, but Delaney struggled a bit, feeling people might hit him and not enjoying the bumps. I could sympathize as that was one reason I hadn’t loved Steamboat.

He wanted to leave early, so we called it a day around 3 and headed back. A quiet dinner, and the start of a puzzle were the activities. I was tired, and skipped running for the first time in over four years.

I made chocolate croissants and coffee the next morning, and this time Delaney wanted to stay back as well. We had more food in the condo and weren’t worried, so Tia, Kyle, and I headed up.

We had a good time, exploring some of the backside. The views are amazing, and here we came around a corner and the valley opened up. This doesn’t do it justice, but it was amazing.

We went down some challenging slopes on the back, but they were quiet with few people and we loved it. Lots of fresh snow made it a great day.

We skiied a bunch, had a late lunch and then finished up with just a couple runs down the front before heading back to the condo.

We went out for pizza, getting into town for a bit. The kids wanted to swim, so we dropped them at the Hot Springs while Tia and I had a quiet date night to ourselves.

The puzzle kept progressing, and Monday I went out early myself. I got in some great runs before Kendall and the others came over. I took Kendall to learn some snowboarding. She’s been wanting to try, so I took her on the bunny slope and tried to help her get going

She did really well and by the end of the day could go down on her heels pretty well. An excellent start to a new skill for her and she enjoyed it. On the way out, she found a little friend.

Christmas day was cold and only the adults wanted to go out. We managed to get kids showered, and then hit the slopes. It was cold, but we bundled up and hit the back side, working on some deep powder skills.

We went down a few blacks, and stopped to take pictures in deep snow.

I didn’t get great ones, but it was amazing. Tia fell a few times, something I haven’t seen in years. Of course, I’ve never seen her with snow up to her knees.

It was slightly intimidating in places, especially when we went through trees.

But we had great fun. There was even one point when I had snow up to mid-thigh. No picture, but Tia got a few of me coming through the trees.

Lunch was more than snickers and hot chocolate, but those were welcome.

In the afternoon I raced down and met Kendall at the bottom for a short practice at the end of the day. She improved skills, and was ready to go the next day. Kyle even took her up for a few short runs on the lift while Tia and I got my boot fixed. I’d broken a wire and it had to be replaced.

Wednesday we worked on finishing the puzzle. Tia was tired and didn’t want to ski, but wanted this done before we left. Delaney and I joined in over breakfast.

We finally finished it. We’d started at Thanksgiving, and restarted this week.

With that done, we headed to the slopes. Tia dropped the four of us off and we worked up and down the lower greens, letting Kendall practice. She had some good runs, some hard falls, and around an hour and a half later, was ready for lunch. We all ate together, and then decided to pack up and leave to beat the storm.

It was a great week, and one that I hope we do again. The little kids weren’t that into the snow, but they’re old enough to stay back if they like and let Tia and I ski.