There was a lot of hemming and hawing about this day.
Mom forgot to mention that Day 1 started pretty rough.
There was a lot of drama in the parking lot.
We complained about the boots.
We complained we were hot.
We complained about wearing gloves.
The straw that broke the camel's back
was when Beckett complained that his gum was too hard.
Mom threatened that if we didn't quit complaining
we were NEVER going skiing again.
So...
If we were to go skiing again,
where should we go?
We did nearly everything at Heavenly our skills could handle.
Palisades, the previous Olympic course, is nearby but rather expensive.
Mom found the Donner Ski Ranch on a web search
and was intrigued by their advertisement for a no-frills,
family-run, budget-friendly resort.
So, after much debate
and a lot of Donner jokes
(look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about--
our favorite: "Donner Ski Ranch: where it will cost you an arm and a leg."
We know; we're sick),
we decided to try it out.
We're a no-frills kind of family.
It could NOT have turned out better.
We got there just as they opened,
got fitted with equipment in the most efficient fitting
we've ever had
and were on the slopes in no time.
Most of the runs on the front of the mountain were Green
so we headed up Chair 1--
me, Beck and Jack
followed by Mom, Dad and Tuck
and hopped off on the first stop
(where is said "Beginners exit here"--
don't have to ask us twice!)
Mom may have fallen off the lift,
because she always falls off the lift,
but we recovered quickly
and took in the freshly groomed snow.
We were the ONLY ones here!
Us 3 Amigos shot down with ease
and headed right back up again.
Tuck...
well, remember what we said last time?
Tuck + scared = a bit ugly.
Mom pleaded and reassured and begged
and eventually convinced him to go down
("because what goes up must come down")
No one will ever mistake Mom
for an expert skier
Pizza all the way!
But before long,
we were all going up and down Chair 1
with smiles (or sort-of-smiles)
on our faces
(Tuck, like Mom, is not a fan of chairlifts)
and we skied Easyrider, Corral, Easy Street and Cowboy
most of the morning
But soon,
it was time to move to Chair 4
This chair lift proved to be pretty tricky for Tuck.
In the course of the day,
he got knocked over by it twice
(as in, rolled over his head!)
and lost a ski once.
But it took us to some great runs!
Check out the views!
There were 6 different greens over here
that we could cross over and between
That was fun and all,
but I was ready for more.
Bring on the Blues!
This would be Levi's Run.
Jack, Beck and I did a lot of falling down at first.
But we'd eventually get back up,
maybe fall another time or two,
and eventually make it to the bottom.
And before long,
we were making it look good
Well, sort of.
After mastering the Greens and Blues
on the front of the mountain,
we decided to break for lunch.
They had some delicious
(and waaaay less expensive than Heavenly) food.
Our favorites were the chili
(insert Donner joke here)
and the homemade pie.
And now...
a ride to the top of Chair 1
(no more beginner's stop needed!)
where the views are amazing.
The dismounts here
were really tricky.
You were literally at the peak of the mountain
without a lot of stopping distance
before sliding over the backside
(down a very scary Black).
But have no fear,
we figured it out
and before we knew it,
we were headed down South Bowl Road
like champs.
It took a bit of prodding to get Tucker down
(there was a 180 degree turn just after the start)
but we all made it
and LOVED it!
We thought it was time to try the backside of the mountain.
We headed back up Chair 1
and instead of taking the 180 degree turn left,
we headed straight
looking for our next Green--Lakeview.
But,
as we pulled up to wear the start of the run should be,
there was NOTHING that looked like a Green.
We asked a fellow skier--
he said head down and veer left.
Um--down was straight down.
We checked with the Chair 3 operator--
he said something similar.
Maybe it flattens out?
Maybe it isn't as treacherous as it looks?
Nope.
I am here to tell you,
it does not get better.
We all fell.
We all fell a lot.
Me, Jack, Beck and Dad
slowly traversed down the hill.
Slowly.
Mom and Tuck ended up
crawling/sliding/walking down.
At one point, they decided they would try skiing again
but the hill was so steep,
their skis kept sliding down before they could put them on.
So they hiked a bit further
until they could finally put them on
and skied the actual Green run.
We all came back down the "Green"
one more time
(after calling out to them on our way past on the lift
and someone else blasting
"Another One Bites the Dust" from the lift too!)
and met Mom and Tuck at the bottom.
That was enough on the backside for Mom and Tuck!
They rode the lift back to the top,
hiked up the slope
and made it back to the safety of South Bowl Road.
They spent the rest of the day
in the safety of the Greens on the front.
Sticks apparently make all the difference.
The rest of us took on more Blues
and even a few Blacks
(v-e-r-y slowly)
Jack couldn't get enough
Me too...
seeing a theme?
We skied from open to close,
more runs than we could count,
until the snow was slushy from the 60 degree temps
and muddy from all the traffic.
We skied until we couldn't ski anymore.
We had so much fun,
we couldn't leave without some souvenirs.
The store had closed
but Mom got them to open back up
when we promised to make some purchases.
2 sweatshirts, 2 coffee mugs and a bunch of stickers later,
we had all the gear we needed.
And now,
celebratory drinks on the deck.
Donner Ski Ranch--
you are our favorite place to ski in California!
