Ever Ski in September?

Did you ever wonder what happens at your local ski resort during the other 8 months of the year? Well, it's a hub of activity!

We drove up to the mountains last weekend to "get away from it all" - little did we know what we faced at home in the following days. We hiked and relaxed, drank some beers on the deck, and watched movies from the 80's (the rule is no current entertainment, no cable and only cheesy movies like Footloose or Spaceballs are allowed). I collected a lovely bird's nest that was upside down on the road.


After that got old, (I'd say it took about 19 hours before we were looking for something to do) we decided to hit the ski resort to poke around. We planned to shop for leftover clearance ski equipment but got caught up in the activities that surrounded us.

On the way in we stopped to feed a pool of giant Palomino Trout on the side of the road, watching them jump for food right in front of us. We invoked a feeding frenzy for kicks then moved on.


We watched the crazy, dare devil mountain bikers in full gear ride down the mountain taking ramps and jumps like someone from the X Games. It was fun to hoot and cheer as they caught air, then watch them ride up the lift with their bikes still between their legs.

Then we rode to the top on our own chair lift to ride the Alpine Slide.


$20 got our whole family a ride on the chair lift with a bird's eye view of the slide and the mountain bike trail, and a ride back down on the track.


After a long ride we arrived at the top of the mountain ready to ride back down the track on a scooter contraption with a hand brake. The workings were counter intuitive since you had to pull back to stop and push forward to go - I guess like riding a horse - but I seemed to do the opposite as I went into a curve which scared me into braking severely to compensate. We wound down the hillside, taking precarious turns and quick, steep bunny hop hills on the way down. It was a bit distracting since I was also in a full on wrestling match with my 6 year old to operate the controls. Surprisingly, we were fighting because I was going too fast. (Jeez, I never get to have any fun.) We whooped and screamed the whole way down and then it was over as soon as it began.

We all begged Daddy for "one more ride" then watched the Aero Jump (a trampoline with bungees for maximum height). It was time to pack up and head for home. We were all ready for ski season now and watched the clouds above for signs of snow. Is is winter yet???