Barb

wow, I don't know why but I thought you were a high school kid.

I am thinking about going to Blue on Sat. It takes a while to get the kids ready in the morning so we can probably be there by 8:30. I've only been to Blue once, so I guess we'll hang around the trails off the six pack. We all have pasr stickers on our helmets. I am sure I can spot Doug pretty easily.

when we were eating lunch at Boulder recently, I was sitting near a father and his I would say 8 year old boy. The entire time we were there over the course of 20 minutes all I heard was the replay of some other snowboarder taking out his kid. He said numerous times "this is why I hate snowboarders." I don't know if the incident happened in the park or not. It seemed like the kid just wanted to forget about it and move on, but the father kept rehashing it. "Did the boy hit you from behind or the side?" "Did he even stop to apologize?" "Did he realize you were hurt, did he stop to help you?' The father suggested the other kid or his parents pay for new equipment because the boy's was damaged. Judging by the way they were both dressed, I'd say they don't ski very often. I was close to turning around and making some comments, but in the end knew this was a guy who was always right. The father didn't see the incident the kid just told him about it. I am sure the father didn't consider that it was his own kid's fault and left out some details. I say make the parents and kids watch the video, for entire mountain etiquette, not just the park.

then you didn't see Sexkitten and I.

I have never seen someone towing their kid in a hoola hoop. That I would like to see.

you're right, I am sure it does depend of the child somewhat. But I think most ski areas do not offer snowboard lessons to kids under 6. If POC wants to spend an afternoon trying to get his 3 yr old up on a board I have a feeling he will want to ski off a cliff by the end of the day. It is usually harder to teach your OWN kids to do things. They know how to play you and say they are cold, tired or just can't do it. They will see an instructor as more experienced than you and an instructor will not let them get away with the whining as much.

I have no idea, but the guys at Alpine will be able to help you.

I forgot to mention to hit up Alpine soon. You know they turn into a pool/hot tub store in the off season. Are you going to get a season pass anywhere?

As far as skis for your daughter, go to Alpine. I got Stephen skis/bindings for $199. They have a junior lease program for boots. Its $35 for the season and you also have to put down a $35 deposit. Go in November to get the boots. Then you have to return them the following Novembe and not before. I just stopped by Alpine the other day to check out the sales and I talked to a guy in both the ski and snowboard dept to see if my kids would need to upgrade for next season. Unless one of them has a major growth spurt over the summer I am going to get a 3rd season out of their board/skis. Not bad for $199 skis. I have heard many people say that kids lack the muscle coordination for snowboarding until at least the age of 6 or 7. David started snowboarding at 7. I had Stephen on skis when he was 3, but the first season was mostly a wash. I put him in the snowmonster program all the time and he was mostly just crawling around with one ski on and eating the fake snow (yuck).

glad you had a nice time at your new mountain, Phillycore. I have to get to Frost one of these days just to switch it up. You and Bigdaddyk must be in some great shape to do that # of runs. On an average day we only do 12-16.

I like your change of plans better than mine. My company for the weekend cancelled and I'm not sure I want to drive the kids 3 hours in bad road conditions. I'll be watching the weather and I guess I'll decide by the time they get out of school.

nice pics, Rob. My friends were watching Stephen and his buddies on every jump. I said, yeah I know that kid he's here all the time and he's really good. Then I was standing right next to him in the lift line, said hi to him twice and he totally ignored me. My friends said, "yeah he must be a good friend of yours."

Believe me I read this message board enough to know when to stay out of a park. There was no one there it was early in the morning. If it was crowded or people were waiting to hit the jumps we would not have done it. All 3 times we went down we let a big group go ahead of us and waited until there was no one behind us. I also gave both boys talks about what to do if they fall, especially on the landings. That is the trail they are always looking at when we go up the lift and they just wanted to try it. Eventually I would like them to try every trail. This is the one they wanted to try next. I wasn't going to say "well you are not going to hit those jumps and fly in the air so we can't do this one." They weren't in anyone's way or cutting anyone off. Plus, the lift lines always get crowded earlier on the other side of the mountain near Freedom. I' ve never been down Love, but I know if you go down Upper sizmarck you end up at the Tannanbaum lift and that line gets busy too. We try to stay over near boulder park lodge and do those trails. When you are dragging around 2 kids all day, they get tired going from one side of the mountain to the other. So that's my reason.

Sat was absolutely beautiful at Boulder. At 8:15 am it was 14 deg but felt much warmer since the sun was shining and there was no wind. Brought friends along and they put their kids in ski school and the boys and I headed over to Bunny's Elbow. The first few runs were miserable since my younger son was having issues with his gloves. I think he was just in a mood. He wanted to take a break after an hour. After that things went much better. No lift lines at all until around 11:30. After lunch one of my friend's kids who is 4 wanted to practice her new skills so David and I dragged her around near boulder park lodge for a while. Sun we got there around 9 and the temp was 27 but felt colder than Sat because it was cloudy and a bit windy. We threw the kids in ski school again but the adults hung out with the boys and I. We got Stephen to go down Boulder park and after one run he was hooked. I just went down the side and wasn't even going to try to go up and down those big jump hills. He got to the top of the second big jump and stopped at the top. I thought he was going to be a little freaked out because it was steep. We were like "well what are you going to do now?" He just said "watch this" and went down it like it was nothing. He tried the box at the bottom of the plaza but fell and got a little shaken up. There was no one around but I was proud of him for trying. David kept whimping out and wouldn't try it. Then got mad when we were telling Stephen he was the man. Here are some pics from my new Pentax camera (which I love). Yeah and I know Stephen's helmet cover is a little gay but he's 7 he can get away with it.

holy shit BDK, 50 runs!

tailbone injuries suck. Two years this coming weekend that I broke mine and I still can't sit in a hard chair or take long road trips without discomfort. Heal up.

woo hoo Philly core!

Lindsay is the shit!

really nice. those pictures are crystal clear.

They advertise that there is a "special" season ticket pass holder window open on weekends and holidays for the sole reason of not having to wait in a long line. I don't know about Frost but at BB there is a sign near the entrance to the tunnel that says season pass holder validation. There is a door to walk in and also a window that, theoretically you should just have to knock on and get service. They ignore you if you knock on the window because there is always a line. Its a very small area to begin with so if there are 10 people in there, its crowded. If everyone in line just had to get their pass validated it would only take a few minutes, but like I said there are always other people in there. When I am anxious to get my ticket and I am standing there listening to, "how much are rentals, how much is tubing, my child is 3, is that too young to take a lesson, have you found my one black glove, I lost it?" It just gets annoying. And like I said there are always several people behind the desk that can answer these questions. But they are always just kind of hanging around seeming to do nothing. The person at the one computer to get your tickets validated is dealing with these people. If they made 2 lines it would be much smoother. The first line should say season pass validation only. Meaning that is the one and only reason you should stand in that line. The other line can say: general questions or customer sevice. Or if they moved season ticket validation over to boulder park lodge, its kind of out of the way so people would not just stop by to ask questions. Just a thought. Overall it is not the 30 minutes you would sometimes wait in the main ticket line on a weekend, but it is still annoying. I have no patience.

you're right, it doesn't say it anywhere on the website. Last year that is what they did and I am pretty sure it was on the website for this year. I would call to confirm. And if it was just me with the pass, I would upgrade to the vip. But the kids season pass prices are $100 less than adult ($349). The Vip is $549 kid or adult. I can't justify spending $500 extra for the 3 of us just because I have no patience. But that validation process is a pain in the ass. Lately there have been several people ahead of me asking if little susie's pink gloves were in lost and found and people just asking random questions about rentals and lessons. There are 2 computers at the desk and always at least 4 people working the desk, but only one computer is ever on and one employee taking care of the line.

my kids better start saving money now for next season then. Those chicken tenders and fries at the lodge are not cheap. With 3 passes that was $150 in disgusting fried food. 4 free passes is nice but when I invite my friends up most of them say they will go tubing.

I'm with you mbike-ski, we are in our prime.

beautiful pictures