Category: Ski

Birthday Month Giveaway!

January is great for many reasons.

  • New Years Resolutions
  • Learn to Ski or Snowboard Month
  • My Birthday
  • Big E’s Birthday
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder (just kidding)
The best thing about January is Birthday Month! Both Big E and I have birthdays in the first (and best) month of the year and a few years ago I decided that one day of celebration is just not enough. 
How could I have lunch with my girlfriends, go snowboarding all day, have a romantic date with Mountain Dad and a birthday party with extended family all in one day? There’s just too much to celebrate. So January has become the month to give myself permission to buy books, get a massage, and splurge on a homemade croquembouche just because it’s my birthday. It only comes once a year so I’ve got to stretch it out to enjoy it.

This year I convinced some friends to try a new sport with me. Curling! The Utah Olympic Oval has a Learn to Curl program every Monday and Friday night all winter long. This Olympic sport well loved by Canadians is a cross between bowling and housecleaning ON ICE. 
I wish I could say I’m now an expert curler with a killer delivery and mad sweeping skills. I’m not, but I had a lot of fun and encourage anyone with the opportunity to try it.
The final celebration of this celebratory month is with you dear blog readers. It starts today, the last day of January and will run until February 7, 2016. You have a chance to win two great prizes! Make sure to hit the left and right arrow to enter for each prize.

Signed copy of Fresh Snow by Natasha Wing Illustrated by Shaundra Schultz

A while ago I got an email from author Natasha Wing asking me to review this cute picture book about a snowboarding rabbit. In the email she mentioned some other books she had written including her popular “The Night Before” series. What would you know, I have her book on my kids’ shelf! It’s not everyday I get emailed by a published author I have read so I was pretty stoked.

The story is a clever introduction to snowboarding terminology. As a wanna-be-pro snowboarder myself I’m always glad to support the sport in the next generation.

Velobling Recycled Bicycle Chain Necklace
Last year I discovered Velo Bling Designs, a company that uses recycled bicycle parts to create unique and beautiful jewelry and gifts. I have blogged about them before and even included one of their pieces in an Instagram giveaway last Thanksgiving. They are my favorite.

So please enter below and enjoy a special birthday gift from me. And have a happy birthday, whenever yours is!

Gorgoza Park – Feel Like a Kid Again

Last Saturday was my first experience tubing. Not that it’s the first time I’ve ever been in a snowtube, it’s just the first time it’s been so much fun. The Mountain Fam and I set out for Gorgoza Park to enjoy the longest tubing runs I’ve ever seen. This is one place I’ve meant to visit every winter for years but never got around to it until I was invited as part of a blogger event.

I was excited to try out the magic carpet conveyor system to get up the hill with Little G. Since she is under 42 inches she wasn’t allowed on the higher hill but we still had lots of fun on the “smaller” hill, laughing as we sped down the groomed runs.

Big E could’ve spent all day on the upper runs at Gorgoza Park. He loved hooking the tube to the pulley and riding up as well as gliding the extra length down.

Baby L even got to tube at the specially designed Fort Frosty area. The carousel allows children under 3 to have a fun time tubing with no extra effort. Tubes are connected to a rotating bar and they can ride around for as long as they like. For just a small walk she got to go down the baby hill with her brother too. Not bad for a baby who can’t even walk.

I don’t want you to think the tots had all the fun. Mountain Dad and I loved tubing at Gorgoza Park. I whooped and smiled like I was ten years old again.

The one thing we didn’t try was the mini snowmobiles. They’re only for kids ages 6-12 and Big E had too much fun tubing to try them out.

This winter excursion is not cheap for a family of five. A two hour ticket is $28.00 for anyone over 42 inches and $15.00 for the shorter kids. Kids three and under are free with a paying adult but our two hour excursion would’ve cost $99.00 plus tax. As a once-a-year excursion that would be fine, it’s cheaper than skiing after all, but I would really love to see Gorgoza Park offer a season pass or a ten ride transferable ticket option.
Overall we had tons of fun and will definitely go again, even with the steep prices. The fun on the hill is worth it.

Outdoor Retailer, Ice Castles and Gorgoza Tubing

This is a busy week at Mountain Mom and Tots. Not only is it my birthday week (why celebrate one day when you could celebrate seven?) it’s also a week full of fun outdoor events.

Outdoor Retailer Winter Show 2016

Photo from GoSnug Blanket Kickstarter

Outdoor Retailer is the largest convention of outdoor the outdoor industry. From January 6-10, 2016 companies large and small come to show off the cool, new, and unique products that help us get outdoors. And I’ll be there checking it all out.

Follow me on twitter or instagram for live coverage of the show! I’m @mountainmomtots and I’ll be using #OR2016.

Midway Ice Castles

Photo from Midway Ice Castles Gallery

This Friday January 8, 2016 is opening day for a truly unique winter experience. Just up the road in Midway, UT the company Ice Castles LLC is creating a winter wonderland. I’ve never seen anything like the photos online and I’m excited to check it out in person. For more info visit their website.

Tubing at Gorgoza Park 

Photo from Gorgoza.com

I was invited to attend a Utah Blogger’s Day at Gorgoza Park in Park City this week. I’ve always wanted to try this out with my tots and now that Little g is not quite so little I think it’ll be a fun time. They also have Fort Frosty for the under 3 crowd.

Come back soon to check out how these fun winter activities went. I hope you get out and explore!

 

Let It Snow!

Last week we got ninety inches of snow. NINETY INCHES. Almost four feet.

It was so much snow that the road was closed for avalanche control for 18 hours straight. So much snow that Sundance Resort couldn’t even open because the road was buried.

The road. Our car. Our house. Everything was buried.

We are buried.

Although we’ve been here almost four years I have never seen a snowfall like this one. Since few people experience the amount of snow I’m talking about I wanted to share some photos. Enjoy this winter wonderland and be grateful you didn’t have to shovel out.