Journal Entries

Another day of fantastic skiing with my best friends (i.e. my family). Today we had a few inches of fresh snow and temperatures hovered around freezing, making for very pleasant conditions. Lets just hope it stays cold enough to keep the snow around for a decent amount of time...

See that smile on her face? Skiing is a happy place for @reneetougas, and that in turn makes me happy too.

@celine is learning the sacred ritual of mounting a pair of bindings on her new skis. Pippen (our cat) is a bit mystified with the process.

Night skiing brings back so many memories for me from when I was a teenager. I joined ski club while in high school, which meant Wednesday nights were spent skiing under the lights of Canyon ski hill in Red Deer Alberta with my dad and my friends. It gives me great satisfaction to be building these types of memories with my children.

Today we tried something new: backcountry skiing at Mont-Tremblant. Technically it isn't really "backcountry" as you are basically skinning up and skiing down a full-service lift area. The great part is that you get access to all of the runs and lodges for $10.

We had a lot of fun, and everyone was thoroughly bagged by the time we left. In my books, that is the recipe for a nearly perfect day.

In this photo: @reneetougas and @celine.

Today we went for a short Christmas day hike with @reneetougas parents (@karentogo and @hammerhead). Due to the chilly winds we decided to stick to the trees. In this photo: Brienne and @mypictograph.

The first ski day of the season: easily tired feet and legs combined with this overwhelming feeling that all is well with the world.

Just finished winterizing my running footwear on the cheap! Just in time too, as we just got a huge dump of snow.

Skis? Check! Wax? Check! Heavy Metal tunes in the background? Check! Lets get these babies ready for taking out on the slopes this week!

By the end of the day, the sun had warmed-up the trail enough to make the trip down much more pleasant than the trip up. All in all a fabulous day.

The sky was clear and the mountain tops were crisp and frosty. It made for some beautiful Vermont scenery today. The trip up the trail was a little harrowing for @reneetougas due to all the slippery rocks, but thankfully we found enough dry rock to make it safely up and down.