We’ve wrestled back and forth about putting together a western ski trip this winter and while things haven’t aligned on that front for a myriad of reasons, we did manage to get the family together in Seven Springs Pennsylvania for a weekend excursion. It’s a little less than 4 hours from Annapolis, so it feels like a different world, yet its no further than the Canaan Valley that we visited a few years ago.
The resort itself is nice and the family package we secured was essentially all inclusive which made it convenient for us. There were lots of activities for the kids including a game room which is like a Las Vegas entry drug, a roller rink (a blast from an 80s past with zero safety requirements or general maintenance), a bowling alley which was quite new and sophisticated (not normally 2 words you put together with bowling) and a tubing hill which was frankly just too far a walk for us to muster on our free evening. With the activities also came food and lift tickets so it really had everything we needed. We only wished that our rooms had not been on the connecting hallway between the hotel and the lodge as there were typical late night shenanigans you might expect at a resort like that.
The highlight of it all however was getting back out on the snow with Ryder. We didn’t even bother with the magic carpet this time and went straight for the chair lift. We also got him a new appropriate helmet and some reigns that let him run his skis. Over the two days of skiing, his improvement soared and he was so fun to watch earning unsolicited compliments from passersby impressed by his mountain prowess at the tender age of 3.5. “If only my parents had started me at that age” was the common theme.
We can’t wait to watch him grow into this sport he can love for a lifetime.