Category: Ski

Motherhood Moments: Here Comes 2015!

2014 was a great year to be outdoors and I’m sure 2015 will be too. Part of the fun of New Years for me is thinking ahead at who I want to be in the coming year, how I want to change and what I can do to make that change happen.

I’m not planning to run an iron man or travel to all seven continents this year but I would like to push myself to experience the outdoors in different ways. Kid friendly ways. I’d like to participate in an outdoors service project. See how far little g can hike on her own. Teach Big E to ride a bike without training wheels. Get both of my kids out on skis at least once a week throughout the season. My goals may not be huge but they’re important to our family. Being outdoors improves my mood, helps us all get some exercise and makes me more grateful for the world around me.

The number one game changer for our Mountain family this year will be the arrival of Mountain Baby in March. Ready or not, she’s coming in ten weeks. How will having a newborn affect our camping, hiking and outdoors plans? I’m not entirely sure.

So far it’s kept me from snowboarding this season, and I don’t imagine skydiving anytime soon, but growing a child, feeling her flutters and kicks has connected me to the cycle of life in a very intimate way. I’m excited to be a mom again and remember the tender beginnings we all had. I’ve already experienced the expansion of love that comes with welcoming a baby into the world. Like the Grinch I expect my heart to “grow three sizes that day” because special things start in small packages. It’s a miracle to be a mom and I plan to treasure the happy moments before the chaos overwhelms me.

So what will your 2015 bring? What outdoors plans do you have and how do you accomplish them with young kids in tow? Leave a comment and let’s start this conversation!

Happy New Year!

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My Best Outdoor Moments of 2014

This year I snowboarded with Olympians, saw the eighth wonder of the world and fulfilled my lifelong wish of seeing a bear in the wild. Our mountain family has done numerous camp outs, hikes, bikerides and other adventures. We’re looking forward to our next adventurer joining our family in March of next year but before we say goodbye to 2014 I wanted to look back at a few of my favorite things. What were your best outdoor moments of the year?

Last winter I loved hitting the slopes with Team Utah Snowboarding and Sundance Resort. Meeting the amazing athletes on the adaptive snowboarding team, as well as the hard core racers on Team Utah’s Boardercross crew inspired me to compete in my first ever banked slalom snowboarding race. It’s great to try new things!

Motherhood had some emotional ups and downs this year as Big E started kindergarten and I found out I was expecting again. Surprise!

Our favorite vacations this year were seeing the jaw dropping wall of dinosaur fossils at Dinosaur National Park, RZRing in Moab, Beach camping in Carpinteria and a couples’ trip to the great state of Alaska. There’s nothing like taking the tots to wild spaces to enjoy all the variety the world has to offer.

As 2014 comes to a close it’s nice to look back and realize that I have spent my time in a way that is important to me. With my family. In the outdoors.

What were your best outdoor moments of the year?

I’m Thankful for Snow, But I Wasn’t Always

I used to hate the winter. Shoveling snow, treacherous driving, the cold, the layers – it seemed like there was no redeeming part of being surrounded by snow and ice.

Growing up on the flat lands of Nebraska and Wisconsin didn’t allow for much exposure to downhill mountain sports. One of my first downhill skiing experiences was down a converted garbage dump and I wasn’t very good at it. So as an adult when I moved to the Wasatch mountains in Utah they seemed surreal at first, like a set on a movie screen. Nothing could be that big.

Years passed. I got married. I still disliked the snow. Then something changed. I watched the Winter X games on TV. The snowboarders, skiers and snowmobilers blew my mind with their tricks, flips and wide faced smiles. I wanted a piece of that joy.

At that time my husband and I desperately wanted a baby. We had tried for 6 months, then a year, then a year and a half and couldn’t get pregnant. After watching the X games I decided if I couldn’t have a baby like I wanted then I would do something else that really wanted. Learn to Snowboard.

Thanks to a Womens Workshop at Brighton resort I did just that. The first lesson I didn’t even make it on the lift. I fell a lot and was sore by the end but I came back the next week and did it again. Then I signed up for the following month.

Something changed in my attitude. Suddenly I had a reason to love the snow. The joy and thrill of gliding down the mountain was new to me and I relished it. That thrill was only possible if the storms kept coming. Snow created so much joy that eventually I became a snowboard instructor and moved my whole family to live within walking distance of a ski resort.

Now my kids are learning to ski and I can hardly wait to see them catch a bit of that joy. Since I’m pregnant this season I will have to sit out. I’m so sad to miss out on the best thing winter has to offer. Snowboarding.

Snowboard Season is at an end.

It’s time to say goodbye to my favorite past time – snowboarding. Sundance Resort – my home mountain closed for the season last Sunday but I got to go with my tots one last time before the lifts stopped running. Unfortunately this happened.

Little g is only two and half, and unfortunately her little feet are smaller than the smallest boot at the rental shop. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem since she just glides between my skis anyway, just cinch it up tight and wear big socks. Too bad I left this ski on the loosest notch and when Big E and little g started knocking their skis together on the lift, it was too much for the tiny boot.

Thankfully the ski dropped in a relatively easy to reach place, just off the main drag so nobody was in danger of being impaled from above. Also on the list of things to be grateful for – her favorite bow shoes were in the backpack, she doesn’t weigh much, and Big E was a big help.

Our last time on the slopes was an adventure all its own. Now it’s time to look forward to warm weather adventures – planting a garden (my tots love to help with this), visiting National Parks during National Park Week, maybe even going on an epic trip. Whatever our upcoming adventures may be, I’m glad to share them all with you.