I feel a little funny telling you about our ski trip sitting here in California with a view of the beach and palm trees from my room... (I'm here for a combined work and vacation trip).
However, I wanted to tell you about last weekend when I took the kids for a two-day ski trip to Camelback in Pennsylvania. I had planned to take the kids for skiing last winter but then my oldest messed up her knee (requiring surgery, etc) and it didn't happen. My children are now 6, 8 (almost 9), and 14, and I figured that it's now or never. It's much better to learn when you're still in that age window that you're not that scared and learn new things easier. So I did some research about good places with bunny hill and magic carpet for learning (two years ago we went to ski for a day in Shawnee, but it wasn't an all out success). Based on reviews, and also a package deal that gave you lift tickets, equipment rental and a 90 minute ski lesson, I chose the Camelback ski area, which turned out great. It's a 2 and 1/2 hour drive, although we got stuck in traffic in the Bronx, and our trip took more like 4 hours, but we finally arrived on Friday around 2 pm and were on the slopes at 3 pm.
It took some time to get the right size boots for everyone.
My daughter's friend was with us. First time on the skis and did great!
While the kids took their lessons, I got to see if the muscle memory still worked, and went up on the ski lift.. I am not a great skier by any means, and haven't skied much in the past 25 years, but I grew up in Finland, so naturally I did ski a lot when I was a kid. I'm happy to report I came down the hill in one piece, although my thighs were burning.
These two learned so much in two days. Next time we'll try the big hill!
The teachers at Camelback were great. Funny and patient, and the group size is not too large.
The 6-year old is in the perfect age to start skiing.
She'll be better skier than me with little practice.
The next morning we woke up to a gray sunrise in the Pennsylvania mountains. We stayed at the Inn at the Pocono Manor, and it was perfect for this type of a family trip. Will definitely go there again.
The breakfast buffet at the hotel was amazing.
We stuffed ourselves before heading back to the slopes.
Day 2 was a Saturday. For future note - avoid Saturday morning/day at all costs. This picture is taken end of day, around 5 pm, when most the people had left. Next time, if we will go on a Saturday, it would be much better to get a twilight ticket. It's much cheaper, and the crowds are gone, meaning no wait for the lifts or the magic carpet in the bunny hill.
