It was a beautiful way to welcome Christmas. We came back to grandma’s and had a Christmas Eve brunch with uncles, aunts, cousins and grandma. My mom made her signature cinnamon rolls, which I haven’t had in years. Such a treat.
That afternoon we got all our gear ready to make a trek up the mountain to a cabin at Alta.
We filled big backpacks with clothes and Christmas presents and got free passes to take one lift up after 3. We were able to ride that lift part way to the cabin, but since Alta is for skiers only, Jeremy couldn’t take the next lift up to ski to the cabin. I stayed with him and we hiked up the slopes to meet everyone else there. The snow on the runs was nice and packed, but once we got into the woods, we sunk knee deep into the snow with each step. The cabin was in such a beautiful spot –right in the middle of Sugarloaf, at about 10,000 feet. It had great views of the woods and snowy mountains beyond. The cabin was 50 years old, and pretty basic, with a big fireplace. We were SO excited to be there. What a perfect place to spend Christmas.
Christmas morning we woke up and opened our stockings. I got some fun things, like a very modern looking ice cream scoop, some comfy lounge pants, chapstick and the traditional tangerine. Jeremy got a sweet Half Moon Bay belt buckle, Stephen’s mint truffle hot chocolate, and ski socks among other things. After a quick breakfast we all headed out for a Christmas ski day—hardly any crowds, sunny, blue skies – just magnificent. Jeremy and I hiked out and went over to Snowbird. We had left our skis/board in the car.
It has been 2 years since I’ve skied, and having grown up with this winter pastime, I was just aching to go. I fell in love with Little Cottonwood Canyon all over again. The views were spectacular, the peaks massive and jagged, and then beyond you could see clearly all the way into Salt Lake Valley. I have no desire to ski elsewhere (but if Tahoe is all I can get, I’ll take it).
After lunch, Jeremy and I took the tram up. It was a little blustery up there, but worth it for the views.
Towards the end of my first action-packed day, I started feeling a little queasy. I get motion sickness pretty easily (see my first post about whale watching), and thought that my sensitivity had increased to include skiing. As I started to feel more and more nauseated I decided to head to the car while Jeremy took one last short run for the day. On my last slope before the parking lot the dreaded salivation started and I skied straight for the sidelines, vomiting twice into the trees. Nothing like the sight of hot emesis sizzling and melting into the snow.
I felt a lot better after that and Jeremy and I headed up to Alta. We met the fam at the lodge, by now Alex, Amy, and their kids had arrived. This time I took my skis up to the cabin, planning to ski Alta the next day. Though Snowbird is fun, Alta is where I feel at home skiing. It is equally as stunning in vistas, but this is where I feel nostalgic and where I am happiest skiing. The quality of the snow is better as well – the motion of snowboarding tends to scrape snow off the face of the slopes, I think. So Alta snow is a little better preserved.
It was fun getting Evan and Juniper up to the cabin. Juniper was in a backpack and Evan skied, with my Dad holding him between his knees. I took Evan between my knees for the last part.
Of course the first thing we did upon arriving at the cabin was make hot chocolate and start with the gift opening. Evan was beside himself with excitement. In my family we take turns opening gifts one at a time so that everyone can see what others got. I used to hate this as a kid; it was excruciating waiting for my turn. I love it now. Evan got a robot and was thrilled. He kept reminding us that the robot wasn’t a toy, “it’s fa’real.” Emily knitted Juniper a beanie that matched her own.
After presents we had a real Christmas dinner of turkey and traditional English stuffing. My mom and dad and got a snow cat to bring all the food in the day before we arrived. The meals were pretty impressive for a rustic cabin setting! Christmas night we were pretty tuckered out, but we stayed up to play a game of Liar’s Dice.
In the morning Juniper went to town on the yogurt. She learned to say “yogurt” on this trip!
This was my first ski day at Alta in years! Michael and Jeremy sledded down the slopes before lifts opened. Jeremy was going down to the car to head over to Snowbird and Michael had to pick his skis up from the repair shop. Sledding down empty ski runs is a pretty awesome sight to behold.
Watching them tearing down a really steep hill had me in hysterics. After that hill, Michael’s toboggan didn’t stop until he got to the bottom. Jeremy finished after he pretty much got rolled into a snowball on his disk.
It was a fabulous day of skiing. All four Bates siblings got a chance to ski together, and I can’t even remember the last time that happened.
Michael tore down West Rustler.
We hiked up to take Backside in for lunch. It was gorgeous, largely untracked snow.
After lunch we took Amanda over to the tougher side of Alta and she fared very well indeed for only her second or third time skiing!
I have to say, Amy and Amanda both held their own. As this was Amanda’s first time skiing with our family, and first time on a family trip-- I was really glad that she was having such a good time. She is a real gem. I truly grew to love her on this trip. That evening after the lifts closed we sledded the groomers in the moonlight. We got going so fast there was no way to stop – we just had to bail. Jeremy and I enjoyed the “green dragon,” the double toboggan. The night ended in tragedy when the green dragon kept going after my dad bailed, shot off into the trees and out of our lives forever.
It was hard to navigate around the cabin at night, especially in waist-deep snow.
It snowed all night that night. We were cozy inside the cabin playing Balderdash and Liar’s Dice. The next day was my dad’s birthday. After the morning opening presents, Jeremy and I watched the kids while everyone went out to enjoy the new blanket of snow. We had a good time with Evan and Juniper, rolling them into “burritos,” working on a snow cave outside, and sledding.
At lunchtime I went out to hit the slopes and slide through the lightest snow in the world. I skied hard all afternoon, making the most of the my last afternoon up at Alta. I was so happy that I didn’t get sick my 2 days at Alta. I concluded that my nausea must have been the result of altitude sickness.
We departed from the cabin, but not before taking a family photo and jumping off the cabin balcony into the snow. We strapped the packs on and skied down to the bottom (Jeremy walked). We met my grandma, uncle James and aunt Debora and cousin Gilbert to caravan home. Gilbert greeted Juniper with a snow-suit embrace.
We left Alta and headed down the canyon, absolutely starving for dinner. We wanted to go to Red Iguana, our favorite SLC dining spot. We joined the throngs waiting outside for a table. Juniper was restless so I took her for a walk. She was fascinated by the window displays of the kinky “Blue Boutique” and kept turning back to go look in the windows once more. I guess the sheen of the red patent leather thigh-high boots on the mannequins caught her eye.
When the wait continued to be 1 hour, despite 20 minutes having gone by, we opted for the Cinegrill, downtown. Their garlicky salad and Italian sausage sandwich really hit the spot, and the kids enjoyed the live crooner who was jazzing up “Frosty the Snowman” at the electric piano and giving out candy canes. So we’re pretty sure Cinegrill is owned by the mafia.
The citysearch description sums up the atmosphere pretty well: Cinegrill is a bustling, pink neon-rimmed room with red banquettes and a convivial atmosphere, located in the bottom of a downtown apartment building.
What a memorable Christmas. We absolutely loved it. I wouldn’t have minded more time in the beloved SLC, but we had to be off on the next leg of our journey to Southern California for 2 weddings! What are the chances?
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