Take 2–we were ready this time with all equipment accounted for! And powder panic was in full effect. We made our way to a steep tow rope, which would pull us to powder heaven—the top of an open bowl. Tow ropes aren’t the most pleasant way to ascend a mountain. You essentially put a disc the size of a salad plate between your legs. The disc is connected to a spring loaded cable, which is connected to the main cable. You stand the entire time, with skies sliding in well worn tracks while holding your poles and holding the cable. As you can imagine, there’s a fair amount of anxiety that goes along with this process, especially for mothers and children😬. I’m happy to report that all 5 Bolthouses made it to the top without incident!
Let the fun begin! We started down the bowl and quickly realized we entered the double black diamond area of steep chutes rather than the single black diamond wide-open bowl. Oops! Kenny thought about panicking, but the powder was so soft and sun so bright, he merely whimpered and then got on with skiing down. It was the best run of the day!
By this time, powder panic had progressed to a full craze in all of us. Darin proposed a second trip up the tow rope and We all agreed. Remember the movie Grease 2? The tow rope sequel went about as well as that movie (not good in case you haven’t seen it). Jacob caught an edge of his ski and fell, hanging onto the disc for dear life and being dragged up the mountain. Darin yelled at everyone to bail out. He and John let go and started skiing back down with Jacob to try again. Kenny stayed on the rope, so I stayed on too. He was 50 yards ahead of me, so it took awhile before noticing Kenny had removed the disc from between his legs and was holding onto it....and he was screaming! Poor guy was too scared to let go, so he traveled that way to almost the top. He finally let go, and I yelled to him to stay put as I was pulled by. He was 20 yards from the peak, so I skied down to him and cheered him on as we side stepped up to the top of the mountain. By the time we reached the top, Darin, Jacob & John arrived via tow rope. Whew! We continued to climb up higher to access a different part of the bowl. All the trouble paid off with another incredible run through powder.
It was 1:30 by this time and we were running on empty Even powder hounds have to stop for lunch:-). Darin broke off after lunch to make one more trip up the towrope while the boys and I did laps through Lake Louise’s awesome terrain parks. After 3 laps, we took a cocoa/beer break. Darin made it back down the mountain and relieved me on terrain park duty. The boys made 3 more laps, catching the last chair of the day for the win!
With the ski day behind us, the race was on to make the most of the last night in our incredible hotel. Darin and I applied our best critical path analysis skills to the problem. We made it back just in time for the kids play hour in the activity room. While the boys were there, we got a table and ordered dinner, which was served while I was picking the boys up. We ate and then hurried back up to the room to bundle up for hockey on the lake. Darin and the boys headed to the equipment rental while I laid out swimming suits and pajamas to minimize future changeover times. We met out on the ice for operation tighten and tie hockey skates. The boys did some warm up skating while Darin tied his skates. Wouldn’t you know, it was during warmup that the one and only injury of the entire trip occurred? Kenny bumped his mouth on the end of his stick and was gushing blood, and upon seeing the blood started to freak out! I have no first aid skills, but my mother bear instincts kicked in. I ordered him to close his mouth and swallow while I pulled my dirty skiing handkerchief from my ski jacket (I hear dirty handkerchiefs are awesome for boosting the immune system😜). I held it over his mouth while calmly explaining that the mouth is the fastest healing part of the body (information passed down from my mother), and if he would remain calm and continue to swallow he would be just fine. He bought it, and within 2 minutes was back in the game with blood smeared on his cheek—it made for a legit hockey look😂.
The hockey game that ensued was hilarious! The boys would approach the puck, take a back swing, lose their balance and fall in the process of trying to hit the puck. Darin quickly discerned that all three boys would need to work together to stand a chance against him, so the game was 3 on 1. Really 3-1/2 on 1 since I helped the boys out on defense:-).
The game lasted an hour, and the boys were victorious! Kenny declared he wanted to play hockey and asked us to sign him up🙄.
The race was on to change out skates and sticks for swimming suits and robes! We enjoyed the warm pool and steam room after skiing and hockey. I was shocked by the unwavering energy level of the boys. A full day of skiing, playing in the activity center, a game of hockey and their bodies and imaginations were still going strong. We swam until 9:30, and then showered and pj’d. They looked at us expectantly and asked, “What’s next?” Oh my—we’ve created monsters!! We informed them sleep was next on the agenda of Bolthouse family fun and to make it extra special and memorable—we bedded them all down in the nook area overlooking the lake. (In hindsight, this might not have been the best plan as John rolled off the cushioned seat onto Jacob and Kenny in the middle of the night. They figured it out on their own and we didn’t hear about this excitement until morning:-)
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