Family Ski Trip at Park City

Garrett and I landed in Salt Lake City to 70 degree weather. It was honestly crazy refreshing considering it was snowing in Connecticut when we left for the airport. It was cooler up at Park City, but still quite warm on Saturday for skiing.

It was gorgeous out Saturday and I swapped my ski coat for a Patagonia puffer. We wasted no time getting on the mountain (our goal was first on, last off) and immediately opted for a blue square. You may remember that I learned how to ski last winter. I’ve improved quite a bit this winter (with ski trips to Mont Tremblant and Killington), but I was still anxious about doing anything other than greens.

Even though I knew the boys had their eyes set on the blue square for the first run, I refused to let myself get anxious or chicken out. It wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I stayed blue all weekend. Not even going to pretend like I’m not proud of myself. Because I am. Big time. It was a huge weekend in terms of ski improvement.

We let Garrett’s brother plan the whole trip and he picked Park City. (We stayed at the Westgate, which is at the base of the Canyons.) Not only was the skiing great, the entire staff was incredibly helpful. They went above and beyond the call of duty… without even being asked.

Heather, Garrett’s sister-in-law, and I were both taking lessons on Saturday afternoon and when the gondola was unexpectedly out of service for an hour, we thought we were going to miss the lesson. But, we just so happened to be next to the school manager and he made sure that the instructors would find us on the mountain instead of the base, even taking our skis for us while we waited for them to meet us. Blown away.

Speaking of which, the lesson was great. A couple of friends recommended I take a lesson or two out west and I’m so glad I did. After a full morning of skiing, I spent the afternoon out with the instructor (if you go, try to get Ruth!) and honed in on my skills. I felt a lot more confident by the end of the day. (And sore.)

Kennedy, Garrett’s 10 year old niece, spent the day in ski school. We met up with her for the last 45 minutes before the lifts closed and honestly, she pretty much skied circles around me! Tons of natural talent for a first time skier.

We spent the rest of the night soaking in hot tubs and then eating dinner downtown. We woke up to a very wet and rainy morning. I think we were all kind of bummed, but still looking forward to a day of skiing. The rain turned to snow as we went up the gondola. While it was still a very, very wet day, the snow made for an extra perfect setting.