December 2016 - Ski & Family Time
At the end of November it started snowing and with that our first ski season here could begin. A ski season that would last until April!
Geert and I are only beginners (in skiing 😏), so we opted for the 'Earn & Learn' deal that our ski resort (at 20 minutes from our place!!) offers. With this deal we got 3 days of lessons, all our ski equipment and a ski pass for the whole season ... hard to beat that, right!
Our boys are way better than us, so no lessons for them. We bought skis for them and off they went!
Utah claims to have 'The greatest snow on earth'® (Utah has even copyrighted this phrase, hence the little registered trademark symbol I added next to it).
Storm clouds coming from the Pacific Ocean pass over the Great Salt Lake. Like a sponge they suck up enormous quantities of water vapour from the shallow waters of the Lake, heated by the desert sun. When it reaches the first mountain peaks, this precipitation - thanks to the dry mountain air - falls as the fluffiest snowflakes imaginable ... aka 'powder snow'
'Good conditions' here mean powder snow so deep that you need a snorkel to breathe. 😆So the first day after new snow has fallen, the slopes will not be groomed and people will sometimes even skip school or work to enjoy these 'powder days'. For beginners like us, and without the wider skis to 'float' over this powder, it just means hitting the snow with your face more often than you'd like! 😝
On normal days we can enjoy miles of groomed slopes, but the good skiers (and it seems that everybody here in Utah is a pro 😏) go off-piste here. In total there is 3000 acres of skiable area. So even on busy days, the slopes never feel as crowded as in Europe.
Our favourite day of the week to go skiing is Sunday. Mormons are not allowed to do anything on that day that requires other to work ... so no Mormons on the slopes that day. Now that's a rule of their religion I can fully support 😂!
All of that in combination with the huge amount of snow (we had a total of 10 meters of snow this first winter), ice-cold clear weather and amazing vistas really makes it a unique skiing experience.
And not only the skiing is superb here! Thanks to the 2002 Olympics downhill which took place here, we can catch our breath in enormous timber lodges,
furnished with wall-to-wall Persian style carpets, golden chandeliers and grand fire places lining the walls.
And on top of that, they serve good food ánd beer ... both not a given here in Utah!
And when we were not skiing, we went sliding,
or hiking (with crampons). Yes, winter is definitely a great season here in Utah.
Before showing some pics of our hikes, let me first switch to the other subject of this post ... family.
My parents were the first of the family to visit us here. Now let me tell you something first about my parents. They have seen the world ... including Utah, and all its neighbouring States. And it's not that they just passed through Utah and only hit the National Parks. No, no, they did all the national parks, many of the state parks, salt lake city, ... So it's not that we were going to show them around and impress them. And they're no skiers, so no way of impressing them with the powder snow neither. But luckily they came for us & not for the sightseeing part. 😊
They arrived here mid December and stayed for 3 weeks, and it sure was great to have family around for Christmas ... a very white Christmas.
And it was exactly that what made it a whole new experience for them. Utah covered in a thick layer of snow. The snow just transforms a known landscape into something that is hard to explain with words, so I'll try with some pictures
Surprise, surprise, even for non-skiers, Utah is very impressive in the winter. 😅
My mom and dad were 71 and 72 at that time but as active and in shape as if they were 40. They don't like sitting around and do nothing, and since they are not skiers, walking or hiking is the only alternative outdoor activity in winter.
Just a walk around the neighbourhood or, in another season 'boring' park, becomes a special thing when everything is covered in a thick layer of snow.
One of the hikes was right in 'our backyard' and it ends at the Adam's Canyon Waterfall. A hike we've done several times in the summer and fall, but hiking it in the winter is definitely a special experience!
We we're equipped with crampons (spikes under our shoes) and hiking poles. Without those we would never have made it. What an adventure! I have to say that I'm really proud of my parents that they not only made it, but they did it without even breaking a (winter) sweat. As a summer hike some people already rate it as "hard". Probably because of the elevation gain. The snow and ice, especially on the steep parts, made it quite the challenge! We definitely had fun and the view of the frozen waterfall at the end was very rewarding.
At New Years Eve we went to see a Utah Jazz NBA basketball game and at midnight we drank hot chocolate milk (what can I say, we live in Utah now 😏) with one of the Belgian Families on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, the square in front of the famous Mormon Temple.
And then it was 2017 ...
Geert and I are only beginners (in skiing 😏), so we opted for the 'Earn & Learn' deal that our ski resort (at 20 minutes from our place!!) offers. With this deal we got 3 days of lessons, all our ski equipment and a ski pass for the whole season ... hard to beat that, right!
Our boys are way better than us, so no lessons for them. We bought skis for them and off they went!
Utah claims to have 'The greatest snow on earth'® (Utah has even copyrighted this phrase, hence the little registered trademark symbol I added next to it).
Storm clouds coming from the Pacific Ocean pass over the Great Salt Lake. Like a sponge they suck up enormous quantities of water vapour from the shallow waters of the Lake, heated by the desert sun. When it reaches the first mountain peaks, this precipitation - thanks to the dry mountain air - falls as the fluffiest snowflakes imaginable ... aka 'powder snow'
'Good conditions' here mean powder snow so deep that you need a snorkel to breathe. 😆So the first day after new snow has fallen, the slopes will not be groomed and people will sometimes even skip school or work to enjoy these 'powder days'. For beginners like us, and without the wider skis to 'float' over this powder, it just means hitting the snow with your face more often than you'd like! 😝
On normal days we can enjoy miles of groomed slopes, but the good skiers (and it seems that everybody here in Utah is a pro 😏) go off-piste here. In total there is 3000 acres of skiable area. So even on busy days, the slopes never feel as crowded as in Europe.
Our favourite day of the week to go skiing is Sunday. Mormons are not allowed to do anything on that day that requires other to work ... so no Mormons on the slopes that day. Now that's a rule of their religion I can fully support 😂!
All of that in combination with the huge amount of snow (we had a total of 10 meters of snow this first winter), ice-cold clear weather and amazing vistas really makes it a unique skiing experience.
furnished with wall-to-wall Persian style carpets, golden chandeliers and grand fire places lining the walls.
And on top of that, they serve good food ánd beer ... both not a given here in Utah!
And when we were not skiing, we went sliding,
or hiking (with crampons). Yes, winter is definitely a great season here in Utah.
Before showing some pics of our hikes, let me first switch to the other subject of this post ... family.
My parents were the first of the family to visit us here. Now let me tell you something first about my parents. They have seen the world ... including Utah, and all its neighbouring States. And it's not that they just passed through Utah and only hit the National Parks. No, no, they did all the national parks, many of the state parks, salt lake city, ... So it's not that we were going to show them around and impress them. And they're no skiers, so no way of impressing them with the powder snow neither. But luckily they came for us & not for the sightseeing part. 😊
They arrived here mid December and stayed for 3 weeks, and it sure was great to have family around for Christmas ... a very white Christmas.
And it was exactly that what made it a whole new experience for them. Utah covered in a thick layer of snow. The snow just transforms a known landscape into something that is hard to explain with words, so I'll try with some pictures
My mom and dad were 71 and 72 at that time but as active and in shape as if they were 40. They don't like sitting around and do nothing, and since they are not skiers, walking or hiking is the only alternative outdoor activity in winter.
Just a walk around the neighbourhood or, in another season 'boring' park, becomes a special thing when everything is covered in a thick layer of snow.
Walk in the park
Walk in the neighbourhood
Also Antelope Island, a State Park close to our place ... which my parents already visited before of course 😏 ... suddenly looks like a different world. When we went to the island, it was sunny and -5°F ( -20°C). We all had the feeling to be on another planet.
On top of that we saw bisons, a coyote and a porcupine. My parents were, again, impressed alright!
We we're equipped with crampons (spikes under our shoes) and hiking poles. Without those we would never have made it. What an adventure! I have to say that I'm really proud of my parents that they not only made it, but they did it without even breaking a (winter) sweat. As a summer hike some people already rate it as "hard". Probably because of the elevation gain. The snow and ice, especially on the steep parts, made it quite the challenge! We definitely had fun and the view of the frozen waterfall at the end was very rewarding.
It's also my birthday in December, so we took advantage of my parents being here to celebrate that with just the two of us in Denver. I'll cover that trip in a dedicated post.
When we came back from Denver, it was Christmas.
It's our family tradition to eat fondue, so that's what we wanted to do here too. In Belgium you buy these fondue packages (ideally) at your local butcher, but we couldn't find one here ánd fondue is clearly not a known meal. Fine meat is plentiful here in the States, so we were able to make ourselves a great fondue after all!
We had a great, traditional ánd white, first Christmas here with family!
And then it was 2017 ...
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