Spring Skiing

When it comes to skiing, Alesia is one of the bravest people I know.  Not that she's a daredevil skier--much to the contrary.  No, I admire Alesia because even though strapping giant sticks to her feet and sliding down a mountain scares her a bit, she does it anyway!  Now that's courage.

I love the puzzled look on Annie and Alesia's faces here.  Perhaps they are contemplating why on earth people ski. 

Alesia has a soft spot for our little ones.  They somehow cajole her into attempting terrain that she never would tackle on her own.  (Hello Eli and his black diamonds!)  Always gracious, Alesia's still a good sport.

Here she is taking on the snowy slopes of Brighton. Way to go!

A few final photos with Alesia.  We are so grateful that both she and Greg were able to visit this spring; now we can't wait to see them this summer!

Back to the slopes, spring skiing was pretty splendid this April.  It felt a lot like January, except better because Annika could ski with us!  Here are Callie, Annie and myself playing hooky in order to ski Deer Valley. 

So independent.

There was so much powder that Annie ended up in a tree hole.  Not to worry, she's okay!

Our Brighton season passes gave us a free day at Snowbird as well.  In the morning we experienced whiteout conditions and could barely see through all the blowing snow.  Brrrrr!

The low point of the morning was when Annika toppled and lost both her ski and her boot!  She then plopped down on the slope and started wailing about her snowy sock.  For the life of me, I could NOT get her foot back in the boot for at least fifteen minutes.  Here she is with Eila, swapping horror stories.  Frankly, I think the experience was more traumatic for me.  I was beginning to wonder if we would have to call ski patrol for a rescue.

Gathered in the lodge for lunch with both the Wilhoits and our friends, the Delfins.

Skiing with the Delfins in the afternoon was awesome.  The kids were so goofy together!  I loved seeing them have so much fun.  Plus, SO much powder!  Looks like Talia ate some of it.

At one point they decided to form a congo line.  From left to right we have Eli, Talia, Ina, and Beyah.  When ski patrol came by, I thought they might shut us down, but instead I hear one of the girls tell the other, Ooh, we should try that!  

Thanks for the ski fun!

Last but not least, a few photos from our home resort at Brighton.   This is one of my favorite views, looking out at Timp from Great Western.

Evidence of their record snowpack.

Warming up with hot chocolate and a J-Dawg after.  

It's a bit of a splurge, but I love how skiing helps our family connect. Now we're just praying that Jason's knee will heal enough for him to ski with us next season.