It was a blustery day at Deer Valley. The winds were howling. Snow was just dumping from the heavens. Our bus up to Silver Lake was delayed. Most of the lifts were on wind hold. Fortunately, holiday guests were sleeping in late. For a while, Quincy Express was the only option. But we made memories.
It was a family ski day, quite a bit different from my normal routine. But days like this both build memories for the future, as well as bring them back from the past.
I have historically been a single skier, challenged to mesh my schedule with others. I’ve developed my own routines. I have my gear all in one bag. My SUV is well equipped with my ski area parking lot setup. Everything is in order. I just throw the gear bag into the car and drive to the park-and-ride lot.
That all changes when family comes to town. It becomes an exercise in organization. It makes me appreciate more what parents go through taking kids to the ski hill. It’s lining up tickets and passes. Recommending a local rental shop. Digging through our bins of old ski gear to make sure everyone is properly equipped. “Anyone else need goggles? Everyone have ski pants?” It’s searches for the missing left glove and last-minute stops to the gas station to pick up more hand warmers.
Amidst Christmas Eve dinner and the holiday gift-giving came the briefing details on how we would organize the first Christmas Day ski outing. Historically, Christmas Day isn’t quite as intense as the days to follow. But we still wanted to be on plan. We worked back from the 8:43 a.m. purple line departure from the Old Town transit center up to Empire Lodge to determine the time we needed to leave the house. We built in a period for a breakfast buffet at home. After gift-giving, we did a final checklist of gear to make sure everyone was 100% ready to go in the morning.
Our Wisconsin family skis in Park City about every three years, and not much back home. They are a highly athletic family, so it’s usually an easy transition. Our run plan is blue and black and very little relearning time is needed.
This year was a milestone for our granddaughter, who nearly lost her life in a jet ski accident five years ago. This was her first time back on skis, a challenging adventure for her with the continuing complications of surgery that compromised a foot. Her first run was tough and painful. But she found her way back, enjoying the exhilaration of the sport, before unwinding (sleeping) in front of a crackling fire at Goldener Hirsch, very much in the princess style she so rightly deserves.
Skiing with family is a wonderful experience. It’s an opportunity to showcase our town and remarkable resorts. No one is counting ski runs or vertical. The chatting time on chairlifts and ridgelines is just as valuable as laying a ski on edge or gliding through powder.
The next day we headed back to Silver Lake Village, sliding down to Quincy and riding up in a raging blizzard that was just dumping snow onto the forest below. As we reached the top of Flagstaff, it became clear that nothing else was operating. There was just one way down.
We followed the pack along Ontario before cutting off to the left to head down Hidden Treasure — an oft-overlooked run that is a gold mine of opportunity. Our grandson loves to hit the glades, so he quickly headed off to the Ontario trees on skiers’ right from Hidden Treasure.
For many, the gladed tree pods are a great place to find a powder line after a storm. To me, it’s about peace and solitude. It’s a quiet place in a windstorm. It’s a warmer spot on a cold day. It’s a way to experience nature in its purest form. There are no lifts in there, no snowmaking guns, no directional signs.
A foot or more of fresh snow blanketed the underbrush as we glided down the traverse, ever looking for a spot to drop into the powder. A little hit here, another hit there — snow spraying up our legs as we glided softly through its depths.
Our daughter Meghan and I stopped for a moment to soak in the scene. We laughed about those days when she was in high school here in Park City and the fun we had skiing with her girlfriends in the trees between Jupiter Access and Keystone at Park City Mountain.
As I think back to some of my best ski day memories, it’s not often about the snow or those amazing runs I had. It’s usually about the people with whom you share the day.
My holiday ski memories this year will forever be those traverses through the trees to find that perfect drop. Or exploring to find a hidden access to a run closed at the top but with 18 inches of fresh snow still waiting to be skied down below. I’ll remember our fearless grandson who skis with no poles, or his father, ever ready to attack another run through the powder.
It’s the rekindling of past memories that forever binds us together as skiers and as a family.
Wisconsin native Tom Kelly landed in Park City in 1988 (still working on becoming an official local). Inducted into the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2019, he is most known for his role as lead spokesperson for Olympic skiing and snowboarding for over 30 years until his retirement in 2018. This is his 52nd season on skis.