Winter didn't really come this year, and the Ikon Passholders in the house were feeling the lack more than anyone. They decided to try their luck on the slopes further north for President's Day weekend. We invited Shayne and Amos to come stay with us at my mom's house to hit up Jackson Hole, and then Shayne wondered about going even further north on President's Day to hit up Big Sky in Montana. Shayne drove the crew to the slopes in his truck, which was nice.
On Saturday, the menfolk all headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for the day. Since I didn't go skiing, Gabe is helping me write about what happened with the ski-boarders.
(Gabe)
This is us in Shayne's truck, heading to Jackson Hole.
1-Singles' Line
2-Catch a Ride
3-Catch Feelings
This is in the tram going up to the top.
This is us at the top of the mountain.
That's us again.
That's me (Gabe).
That's Dad.
That's on the tram, taking a picture down.
That's me looking down.
(Devri: Do you want to say anything about the views? Gabe: No.
Devri: Do you want to talk about how Dad thought it was really pretty and kept taking pictures? Gabe: No)
Gabe: I don't want you to include this picture.
Devri: Why? It's Michael.
Gabe: No it isn't; it's me.
Devri: No, the person is on a snowboard with a purple helmet and a white coat. That's Michael.
Gabe: (after we zoomed in on it in Lightroom) Oh.
So other than establishing that Michael is doing something in this photo, that's the extent of our collective knowledge.
(Brian's note: there is a small section at the base where you can't ski down, so Michael likes to ride his board like this instead. It's a yearly thing.)
(Brian thinking of what Gabe would actually say) This is me (Gabe).
Meanwhile, I brought a big sewing project to Idaho to work on because I had a deadline. We did take a break to go for a walk, and I borrowed Rachel's coat. I honestly thought it would be tighter than it was.
After the guys got back from ski/boarding, we had tacos for dinner, and Shayne and Amos learned about how the Chadwicks (and my children and Brian), like to have ketchup on our tacos (the ground beef kind). They thought it was weird and gross, but my kids convinced Shayne to give it a try. He conceded that it wasn't bad, though I do wonder how much he was pandering to the very vocal ketchup-on-tacos crowd that had him very much outnumbered (Brian's note: he knew we would end him if he disagreed with us in the Chadwick home). Shayne loves hot springs, and so he and Amos were planning to head clear down to Lava Hot Springs when we told them about Heise Hot Springs just 10 minutes away. They liked that idea better, and while they were enjoying Heise, these four busted out the dirty board while I continued sewing and working on my quilt top.
(Brian) Funny story, Shayne got the place because it was super cheap and only a couple of miles from Big Sky. Turns out it was a couple of miles as the crow flies, and since we could not go directly through a mountain we had to go around it the next morning. It was all good though.
They were very excited to go to Big Sky, and they said it was amazing and can't wait to go back.
(Brian) Another funny story, we planned this trip to Idaho to get better snow since Utah had none, so you can probably guess what happened that weekend in Utah... yup, huge snow storm, and nothing in Idaho. Jackson Hole was a little melty/slushy, but Big Sky stays cold enough that even though they hadn't gotten a lot of snow, it was still in great condition and many parts still had something like powder.
Meanwhile, Rachel and Gabe helped with the chickens.
Brian was good at getting pictures from the day.
(Brian) This is one of their huge 6 person lifts. Many lifts at Big Sky are like this - 6 across, heated seats, and a bubble that you can pull down. It was actually somewhat warm, though, so we didn't really need the bubble.
(Brian) This is us.
(Brian) Us again. This time with less of us.
(Brian) Michael and I ended up together for part of the day. I have no idea where Shayne and Amos went, but I think Michael wanted a little more adventure than they were up for...
(Brian) ...or maybe they were just on the other side of me. Entirely possible.
I think this was the best snow they found all year.
(Brian) Absolutely - it was AMAZING for such a bad year.
(Brian) That little spot is me, or Michael. Probably Michael.
(Brian) I'm pretty sure this is a picture of Big Couloir, which is a (world?) famous run through the rocks and snow up top. They only open it if conditions are good, and it's extremely dangerous. So naturally, Michael wanted to go. We did not. Mostly because I'm still on a very serious anti-death campaign.
(Brian) And he was angry about it.
Just kidding. He wasn't. This is just me catching a candid of him and him going "more pictures?!" probably.
(Brian) View from the Gondola.
In the afternoon, I loaded up our car and Rachel, Gabe, and Gracie, and we headed home. I wanted to make sure that Gabe got to bed on time. I think we got back to our house around 7 p.m. The guys drove all the way home from Montana after a day of skiing, so they got back pretty late, but they all raved about how great it was.
(Brian) And now for the rest of the story... at about lunch time Shayne talked to one of the liftees and he told us to go to the Shedhorn Grill, which was on the backside of one of the mountains there (Big Sky is MASSIVE). Fortunately, we ran into some 10 year olds on the way there that told Michael and I exactly where to go, so we took off. They told us to keep up our speed as fast as we could go since most of the ride over was VERY flat and a cat track, which is a snowboarder's worst enemy. We still both had to take of the boards and walk part of it because it was so incredibly flat. We made it though.
However, on the way back instead of going the way the kids said to go, we decided to take "Skittles Road", which will forever live in infamy. It actually was not that bad, except for right after getting started on it, I was slowing down on my board and at that exact moment hit a big "chink" in the snow which then made me lean forward too much and then catch my front edge of the snowboard. Let me tell you, I've caught a lot of edges in all my riding, but this one HURT like the dickens. I didn't even have time to lift up my hands, which might have been a good thing since it probably would have broken them even more. I landed flat on my face and seriously thought I had broken my nose for a second, but just had a little cut on my forehead from the goggles fortunately.
Unfortunately, it really hurt to get going again, and after a few more minutes on Skittles Road, I caught ANOTHER edge and this time caught myself a little more, but it still hurt like mad. The entire cat track had iced over due to the warmth and so the snowboard could not really hold a line solidly which is why I struggled with it so bad. I haven't struggled with something like that for over a year. After maybe 30 minutes of feeling like this was the longest run of my entire life, I finally made it down to the bottom without another crash where I confirmed that it was ACTUALLY THE LONGEST RUN OF MY ENTIRE LIFE. I use a ski tracker app and it was 3.1 miles, which is longer than any run I have done since I started tracking things a few years ago. The red sections are likely where I crashed.
I couldn't really operate after that run and I think I did one more little run down with Amos that was pretty painful, and Shayne and Michael went to a section of the mountain we hadn't been to yet and said it was even better than what we had done all day. Oh well, next time...
Fast forward a few days later, and I still hurt. Like REALLY hurt, and it kept getting worse. I finally went to see a doctor and he confirmed it was likely a broken rib, but even if they x-rayed it, it wouldn't change the treatment which is just rest. So I just waited patiently. It took a couple of weeks before I stopped breathing sharply every time I moved my torso, but it finally healed.
So, all in all...
Big Sky: 10/10, easily my favorite resort I've ever been to and we're already planning a trip for next year again
Skittles Road: -eleventy billion/10, easily my worst run ever and I hate it with all of my soul
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