Groomer Ride

Galen and I met up with Ethan at Pico for a few runs before he had to work.  Here is Galen and I cruisin along.

After skiing we followed Ethan to his office..

The plan...

I think was more excited than Galen?

Riding the Groomah!

At the top!

Looking towards Rochester Gap.

Thanks Ethan!

Spring is here!

Even though we have two rope tows out the back door we figured that it would be worth the $295 + $50 to get Galen and I a ski pass to Pico.  The pass is valid for the rest of this season and next season.  Galen's cousin Jackson along with several of our friends ski at Pico fairly often so it seemed like a great way to mix up the skiing at an afforable price.  On a friday (dad daycare day) Galen and I picked up our passes.  Getting his first pass as a 2 year old..

The skiing has been great this spring and Galen is a big fan of chairlifts.  He took his first run on Golden Express and skied down lower Pike.  The one pole setup works well for both of us as I can stand up a bit straighter while Galen holds onto the pole.

With the warm weather there were some rad puddles to play in the parking lot.

After skiing we headed home and took a nap.  Later on that night Alice and Ethan came over for friday night lights on the toddler tow.  Here is Ethan and Alice.

On Sunday we met up with cousin Jackson and the rest of the crew for a few Pico runs.

Here is Galen with mom on the Bonanza lift.

Later that day (during nap time) Jay and Larry came over to ski the big tow.

The snow was a bit crusty but had softened up enough in those sunny spots.  Here is Larry on the tow.

The tow is soooo much easier to ride now that we eliminated the twisting.  We experimented with flipping the rope around the drive wheel so that we could bypass the top idle wheels (that kept the crossed rope from rubbing on each other) and putting it reverse.  Bingo.  It's easy and fun to ride again with no twisting at all.  Which make it much safer too.

Larry on the top section of Jay Way.

And Jay on Jay Way..

You can see how we have some sagging in between the towers.  Need to add more towers (instead of over tensioning the rope - which makes it hard to hold the rope up).

It was a great long weekend with lots of skiing!

Later that week I worked on finishing the last of the extra towers for the big tow.  Galen wanted to help out and he made sure that he stood waaay back when dad ran the power tools. 

After work during the week I was able to get out for a quich bc ski with dad on his new AT setup!

Friday night lights are no longer under the LED lights anymore.  Days are getting longer!

Into March

When March came around we saw fewer snow storms and more sun!

The days were getting longer too.  Us boys made dinner one night while mom and Tappy took a couple laps around the yard.  Here they are watching from the kitchen counter.

By mid March we were seeing signs of warmer days ahead.  Galen and I helped Jay tap his trees one day after work.

Galen is a huge fan of groomers.  Here we are checking out the Middlebury Snowbowl pisten bulley.  We've been skiing on the free carpet a few times this winter.

I haven't spent much time skiing on my own this year but when I get a chance it's usually right out the door given I'll only have an hour or two to sneak away.

On what might've been the first warm sunny day of the year we had a fun family ski with Bumpa and Grammy on the toddler tow.  Elet and I hiked around and took pictures.

Spring is just around the corner!