Cooper Mtn Ski Weekend

My Mom and her husband Dan, have started a new tradition in gift giving... giving experiences rather than objects.  I have to say that I have come to LOVE these excursions with them.  This year they took us on a ski weekend to Copper Mountain, which included two nights in a beautiful ski side condo one a full day of skiing, and another day of snowshoeing and sledding.

We arrived Friday night, to a scrumptious meal, and watched the snow fall.  After a long day of work and school none of us made it too late, and headed to bed early-ish.

Saturday morning we enjoyed breakfast and got ready at a leisurely pace.  Being at the base of the mountain it was nice to not have to walk out the door until 9:00 to ski.  Usually ski trips require us to wake up early and start the drive to the mountain.  It was an absolutely beautiful day when we began, the sun was so bright, and there was barely a breeze in the air.  We skied the far East side of the mountain all morning, and have decided to avoid Kokomo, Lumberjack, Timberline Express, as the first two are slow and the third is incredibly busy.  Our favorite runs happened to be off of Union Creek, so we will stick to that area in the future.

After lunch the conditions changed, and we skied our way through big fat flakes the remainder of the day.  Super Bee is the lift that was right out side our condo, and even more cool, was that it sat 6, so we could all ride it together!.  Our afternoon runs consisted of criss crossing the mountain from the tippy top of Super Bee to Union Creek, and back to the base of Super Bee. 

I was so impressed with how well Maddox had done.  Earlier in the season I enrolled him in a ski lesson at our local resort, Powderhorn, and he did really well, but I wasn't sure he'd be ready for the blue runs at the bigger mountain.  He did exceptionally well playing follow the leader with grandpa.  Madison is always fun to ski with, and trying to keep up with her makes my legs burn!

Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)

Me and my munchkin, Madison.

Maddox insisted he wasn't done skiing for the day, (though another full run would have been his ruin) so he skied all the way to the condo.

Brian felt miserable the whole trip, but was such a trooper skiing with us all day, never complaining, and never being a downer. (he went to the Dr. when we got home and had a sinus infection, ear infection, and strep throat!)

Madison waiting for our lift tickets

All 6 of us on the Super Bee!

Maddox entertaining himself while we wait for tickets.

Relaxing in the condo before bed.