We had a great weekend skiing in Snowshoe. We arrived as weary travelers on Friday night around 10:30 pm. The drive is 5 hours on the interstate, plus about 2 through the mountains on dark switchbacks. I really hate the drive. I feel like we are on the road to nowhere - it's always dark when we are headed up the mountain and it seems to take forever! Having a GPS did help this year, at least I could look down at the map to see how many more miles we had to go. We recently subscribed to satellite radio, which added to our listening enjoyment. But it was still arduous as we climbed up and around.
We went to bed in -8° weather. We woke up to ski in temps near 0°. The resort was pretty crowded Saturday morning, so ski rental lines were extra long. Tim and I started skiing 5 years ago with the kids. It has always amazed me to realize just how long it can take to get 6 people dressed in 15 layers each. It takes an extra measure of patience, because as you layer up, you begin to sweat while dressing others AND it is a constant struggle to keep little hands out of the snow before we set out for the day. You see, if little hands start out in wet gloves, then the mouth of said little hands will soon be complaining about 1/2 way down the very first slope! So, add in long rental lines, and we weren't ready to set out until just before lunch. It wouldn't be long before those little mouths were starving!
Anyway, we finally made it down the mountain with a few snowboard crashes, but none as scary as Reed's dive off the mountain last year. The high on Saturday was 12°. It was vedy, vedy, chilly. Caroline and I seem to be the only ones that suffer from "cold hands and feet syndrome", so our day was especially cold. We did enjoy the chance to ski in the afternoon while Reed and Cole took private lessons. We even traversed a black slope - yep! - that's another check off for my 40 list! Yahoo!!!
Sunday began with a loud yelp and a tremendous amount of decision making on the part of these parents. As so often happens, Cole and Reed had a small skirmish over an "I Spy" card, Reed's elbow hit Cole's chin, which in turn, hit Cole's chipped but repaired tooth and knocked the darn repairing stuff off! We had to dig the car out of the freshly fallen snow, scrape the windows down without an ice scraper (now, who would go skiing without one???), and drive to a place where we had cell coverage. We called Dr. Pete for a consultation and agreed that we would head home to once again repair and protect that darn tooth. Well, we decided after breakfast to rebel against our better judgement and stay for the day, then we would head home at first light on Monday.
Once we got out on the slopes, the day was great. The slopes were crowded, but the kids were just flying down the mountain. I don't even think we had any wipeouts! It was warmer and the snow was perfect. Cole kept telling us how great he was feeling. He really didn't want to have to go home early. I especially enjoyed watching the kids go down the mountain. I strategically place myself at the end of the Ragsdale gang, so if someone crashes, I can help gather skiis and poles (I am also slower than the rest, so it's a good excuse). My favorite part this year was watching Cole follow Tim down the mountain. Cole stayed about a ski's length behind all the way down. I felt better with Cole behind him - that ensured that Cole's speed was controlled. Otherwise, he just chooses to go straight down, never paying much attention to prospective obstacles like incoming traffic and firmly planted trees!
Sunday night we ate dinner at a hot dog bar while watching the Cardinals beat the Eagles. The kids enjoyed the chance to create their own dog with toppings. They always enjoy a swim at the Split Rock Pools. There is a fun slide indoors with 3 hot tubs and a large pool outside. It was freezing outside, but the cold didn't bother them. Brooks organized a "how big a man are ya?" contest. They started out in the big pool, climbed out and followed a path around the pool till they got to a snow-covered lounge chair. They had to lie down in the chair, then walk as slowly as they could to the slide, and take a quick trip down the slide into the pool. Reed took a pass on the lounge chair part saying, "no way am I getting in that chair"! Brooks created it, so of course, he completed it. Cole is always quick to join in the fun. He laughed all the way through the course. Boys, boys, boys. They are a bunch of fun! Caroline was lost in her book the whole time. Have I mentioned that she turns 13 next month?
Monday we got up and packed the car. The snow was falling fast and the car was once again covered! After loading the car, we skiied out from our condo and spent the morning enjoying the fresh powder. This was a grand finale to our Snowshoe trips. We will most likely not ski here again, so having the best snow of all 5 of our trips was wonderful. The slopes were no longer crowded and we could ski all of the trails to our hearts' content. We even took 2 black slopes as a family - it was a fabulous day!
We have many happy memories in Snowshoe, WV. Once you get up there, it's like living in another world. I have always enjoyed the escape this vacation provides for our very busy family of 6. Tim and all of the kids learned to ski up there. We will never forget our family fun in West Virginia!
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