Two weeks after the sun and sand of Maui we headed off to the sun and snow of Deer Valley. While we're blessed with good weather in the Bay Area, that usually translates to a relative lack of seasons. Both Sue and I grew up with a certain rhythm or pattern to the year: cold brutal winters giving way to invigorating springs leading to humid summers relievedby crisp falls. Our kids won't really know that flow, particularly winter. So it's important for us to expose the kids to snow.
Some of you might recall the first time Cruz (and Whitney) saw snow. But now that Cruz is 4 we felt that he was ready to start skiing! As most of you know, I love skiing. I entered this trip with some slight trepidation because I want my kids to share in my joy of this pastime. I wanted Cruz' introduction to skiing to be fun and enjoyable.
Luckily, we were able to travel with some friends of ours who have a son the same age as Cruz (in addition to their school age and infant daughters). Not only did we fly out together, we stayed in the same rental house and Cruz and their son had their first ski lesson together.
Cruz is in the blue, on the left
We chose Deer Valley and skipped right over Lake Tahoe for several reasons. For the same amount of travel time (driving vs. flying and then some driving) you can get to Park City, Utah instead of Tahoe. And being in an airport/airplane is much more tolerable than being stuck in a car. The snow is also far better in Utah than in Tahoe. After all, Utah claims the "Greatest Snow on Earth" while Tahoe's variety is best known as "Sierra Cement." Better snow should equal a better ski experience for Cruz. As it turns out, Tahoe was having a horrendous year in terms of snow fall which we couldn't have known about way back when we booked, so picking Deer Valley was fortuitous decision anyway. Lastly, we chose Deer Valley specifically because of it's awesome customer service, phenomenal child care, top notch ski school, and wonderful food.
Our trip, while short, did not disappoint. Cruz had a good great time and while he only had two days of skiing (really just two afternoons since that's what they do for his age group) he good do a good "pizza wedge." I got 2.5 days of skiing in. Even Sue had a good time on the slopes. As for Whitney, well... it was our first time really dropping her off at child care and needless to say she wasn't too pleased during drop offs. Also, I think she's more of a sand and beach kinda girl. Even before we left for the trip she was already saying that she didn't like the snow or the cold.
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