We’re always looking for new places to ski with the family. Although I’ve been to Utah a bunch with friends, Grace nor the kids have been there for skiing. We looked at a lot of options for our 2nd week of the holiday break. Coincidentally, Ann and Jeremy were going to be in Deer Valley and invited us to crash with them.
This was fortuitous on an epic scale because they were staying at the Montage. I’ve only had lunch there before with my WB buddies and fell in love with it the minute I stepped inside. I never expected to ever stay there, but we were beneficiaries of Ann and Jeremy, who were beneficiaries of another friend whose plans changed. That left available a beautiful 3 bedroom unit, the kind of which makes you not want to return home.
Sunday, the day we arrived, was Olivia’s birthday, so we wanted to celebrate somewhere. Our plans were last minute and the only place I could find was the Seafood Buffet at Deer Valley. If I had a better memory, I would have remembered that while the food was good, the ambiance was a little lacking for the price of admission. Next time I will not forget. Most importantly, we celebrated Olivia’s milestone with friends and she was happy.
Monday, we skied at Park City because the Ikon passes I got at the last minute were blacked out that day at Deer Valley. It was a cold but great day on the mountain. I hadn’t skied there in forever. Starting Tuesday, we got into our ski-in/ski-out routine at Deer Valley, which was a lot easier. The snow was infinitely better than the start of the season last year, though coverage was still a little thin in areas. We definitely made the most of it.
The Champions Club at the Stein Eriksen was one of the best finds on this trip. While the food is not as epic as the buffet upstairs, every game in the arcade is free. I guess they’re making it up in pizza. We spent New Year’s Eve in the room and had room service for dinner, which was fine with everyone. We had some so-so dinners in town, though Riverhorse on Main was notably excellent again. Some of our best meals were at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel (two nights in a row).
All the kids were great sports all week and we had fun skiing with Emme and Elsen. The little and big kids enjoyed an après ski of tubing and hot cider. The kids added rolling around in the snow between the pool and hot tub to their routine. I didn’t allow myself to get roped into that, but Jeremy joined right in.
We didn’t venture down to the bowling alley until right before we left. Otherwise we might have had some high scores by the end of our awesome week together. It all went by so fast, but we’re so thankful for being able to finally travel with their family, especially after our Airstream caravan got aborted a couple years ago. Until next time!
