A wonderful day on the mountain

The snow cleared out yesterday afternoon, and today was absolutely gorgeous. Jeff and the kids hit the slopes as soon as the lifts opened, and I met up with them at lunchtime. After they got back to it, I lingered for a while so I could see the kids make a few runs. When I was ready to head back to the apartment, Clay decided he was ready to call it a day, so we spent the rest of the afternoon building a snowman and playing in the rec room. It was a wonderful day!

A beautiful way to start the day!

These kids absolutely love skiing!

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the mountain

Leaving the slopes early doesn't mean the fun has to end!

Perfect end to a perfect day!

Park City

We spent the morning enjoying the playground and rec room at our campground. Then we went into Park City around lunch time and dined at Sammy's Bistro, which was fantastic. After lunch, we headed out to the Olympic Park for a look around. If you are unfamiliar, during the 2002 Salt Lake City winter Olympics, the indoor events were held in SLC at The Oval (where we had our curling lesson last night), and the outdoor events were held in Park City at The Park. Many athletes of all levels still train at these facilities, and there are many diversions for tourists to spend their money on as well. We stuck to the free entertainment of playing on the playground and watching skiers and snowboarders coming off the ski jumps. It is really something to see winter sports being performed in the very real heat of summer! The facility was also preparing for a rock wall climbing competition that starts tomorrow, so we got to watch a few of those guys practicing as well.

They weren't using the pool jumps today
because they were getting ready
 for the climbing competition.

A boy and his statues

The big ski jumps

Two of the large jump hills were
being used by tubing tourists

Building potential Olympic skills

A jumper, just above the Olympic symbol
(You can actually see his shadow, to the
left of the rings, better than you can see him.)

A skier practicing flips into
a huge inflatable ramp

Just hanging out

What goes up, must come down!

A week in the Alps

We had plenty of snow this last week, but not so much Internet. So here's the report-in-brief. After a half-day of fairly unpleasant skiing in blizzard-like conditions, with several days of that remaining in the forecast, two-thirds of our group said, "No thanks!" and turned in our skis. Jeff and Weston were the only ones brave, or crazy, enough to continue, and were rewarded later in the week with lovely, though not warm, ski weather. The rest of us spent countless hours huddled in our warm little chalet, sitting around in our pjs, watching French cartoons, drinking hot chocolate, reading, working Sudoku puzzles, playing games, and snacking. But, we weren't just complete slugs. We also took advantage of some of the other fun activities in the little resort town, like swimming in the huge indoor pool, ice skating at the indoor rink, visiting some of the cafes and shops, and, when the weather was nice, sledding, building snowmen, throwing snow bombs, and playing on the playground. One evening, we were all able to attend an ice skating show, which was a lot of fun. Now, we are in a little town near the French/Swiss border, preparing to catch a plane to Moscow in the morning. It's so hard to believe that our time in Europe is coming to an end! But, we are looking forward to new adventures in Asia and beyond!

The place where we rented our skis said we were the first
Americans they have ever rented skis to.
I guess the town was so excited, they hung a banner out for us!

The view from our chalet on various days

Skating

Good thing I was quick with my camera!
I didn't have much time to capture everyone on their skis.

Snow Fun

It's never too cold for ice cream!

The finale at the skating show

Another day on the slopes

Team W took on another skier today. I'm not going to lie, he was the cutest skier on the mountain! And, he did great! He even got to ride the big lift a few times and go down one of the same runs as everyone else, which made him feel very big indeed. We had so much fun, despite a few spectacular, but non-injurious crashes and embarrassing mishaps at the lift. (I'm not naming names, but someone entered the chair area too soon, got hit by a lift chair, lost a ski in the process, and had to ride up and dismount on one ski, before having the other ski delivered by the instructors in the next chair. Someone else managed to get one leg through the turnstile but not the other, became stuck, and had to be rescued by the staff.) My favorite part of the day was watching the kids bonding, as they alternately raced and waited on one another, and as they helped each other out and cheered each other on. Up on the mountain, they weren't just siblings, they were friends. It was awesome!

The gang's all here!

Ski buddies

Downhill racers

These two guys needed a little ski break
and some time to just play in the snow.

Snow pillow

The cutest thing on two skis!

Second Ski Day

It was another beautiful day on the slopes, though a bit colder than yesterday--cold enough that several of us decided to visit the ski shop to find some more appropriate hand wear. It was also even less crowded than yesterday, as yesterday was a local holiday. For the first part of the day, Clay was the only kid in his ski school, which meant he got one-on-one instruction and that he was easy to pick out in the class, so I was able to get some pictures of our smallest skier. We had such a great day and are looking forward to more fun tomorrow.

Team W takes to the slopes

Magic Carpet Ride

Ski School Cutie

A lovely view from the top of one of the runs

Max's giant snowball

When we stopped at the grocery store with the unique nativity scene yesterday, only Jeff went inside.
But, he insisted that we all visit today because it is truly spectacular.
This is just one very small section of the three-story store,
which offers so much more than groceries and plenty of free samples.
I don't believe I've ever seen or tasted so many varieties of salami in my life!
(And, this is just about half of the counter!)

First Andorra Ski Day

It was a gorgeous day on the mountain! We got there when they opened the lifts and didn't leave until they were shutting them down. And, the crowds were very slim, so we were able to ski our little hearts out. (Honestly, we're kind of paying for that now, as we're all a little sore and very tired. But, it's a good kind of tired, so we aren't complaining.) Clay went to ski school/daycare all day, so that's why he doesn't show up in any of the pictures. According to his reports, though, he had a fantastic day. We're looking forward more fun tomorrow!

First time on the standing lift

This girl rocks the mountain!

Mr. Cool

Practicing "pizza"

At the end of the day, we stopped at the grocery store,
where we saw a VERY unique nativity scene.