Wednesday, January 28, 2015

family ski at Government Peaks Recreation Area


It was cold today, around four degrees when we headed out, but the skies were blue and the sun sparkled blindingly on the beautiful and long awaited snow. We decided to get outside and go skiing despite the cold temps, and finally made it out the door around ten with enough warm clothes to nearly fill the cab of the truck.

We drove the twenty minutes up to the Government Peaks Recreation Area near Hatcher Pass and sat in the truck for a moment, just staring at the beautiful view from the parking lot/chalet. Then the work began, as we spent the next twenty minutes layering the babies in their warm snow clothes, strapping them into the Chariot and then tucking Steve's down sleeping bag under and around them to make doubly sure they stayed warm enough while we were out skiing. 

It was our first time towing them in the Chariot rather than carrying them, and it went very smoothly. Pulling the extra weight while skate-skiing was definitely tricky, but it was a great work-out. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner skier, I would definitely try classic skiing the first time out with the Chariot, but for intermediate skiers and beyond, I would say go ahead and try it. Downhills are extra fun with the added weight pushing you from behind too. 

It felt so amazing to be outside with the kids quiet, happy and contained for an hour, both Steve and I resolved to get up there skiing more often. Riggs even skied for about 30 minutes, and I was so proud of him for trying so hard, even skiing up an entire hill by himself in the tracks (and with no poles!). Sharing my love of skiing with both kids is definitely going to be a highlight of parenting, I can tell already. 

If you're in the Valley or in Anchorage and want a change of scenery, I highly recommend visiting GPRA - the trails are interesting and just hard enough and the views can't be beat. See a GPRA map, here, and the Mat-Su ski club webpage, here.

we saw three moose on the way up

5 comments:

  1. Hey! I was so happy to hear from you today... such joy this morning someone commented on my post, haha! It´s pretty a shame there is so little time to browse through all the posts I would like to read but at least I always take a look at your pics! Your babies are so big too... I exactly remember the post I saw Riggy sitting with the baby book to announce your new member... my goodness!
    I really hope to hear of you more often... I will take more time to write some words to let you know I was there! Hugs

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  2. It is so great that we got just enough snow to ski on! I love watching Chris bundle the kids up in the Thule and ski with them. They have so much fun!! We are hoping to get out this weekend and have the boys ski,I feel so bad this is really their first year to ski independently and this winter hasn't been very snow friendly!

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  3. xoxo thank you so much my friend!

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  4. Sooo many cute pics! Looks like so so much fun! I wish you could cart me around in that cozy thing haha. Love you!

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  5. This looks so fun! Thanks goodness we finally got some much needed snow! Now it just needs to warm up a bit. We will definitely be investing in a chariot for next winter.

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