Skijoring has been becoming more popular in the West. What is skijoring? Glad you asked. In a nutshell it is where a horse pulls a skier/snowboarder around a course, and you get timed. The very basic rule is that the skier/snowboarder must hold onto the rope the entire course. If they let go, they do not get a time. If they miss a jump, ring, or any part of the course they lose points for everyone missed, and those points are added to their time. So, if they ran the course in 45 seconds and missed 5 obstacles, they get a 55. It was so fun to watch! There were several different heats. The day started with the newbies, the people that were doing this for the first time. Another favorite of the categories was the kids. The skiers had to be under 10, and some of the riders were under 10 as well. There was even a mini horse that was ridden by a brother pulling his sister. It was adorable, then the mini horse tripped a bit and did a somersault. Everyone was ok, the kid got literally back on the horse, and they finished their round. The teams had very entertaining names that I wish I could remember. A couple names I remember were "Shake and Bake" and "Hung like a Horse". There was also redneck curling which is where they take audience members, put them on a tube, and pull them behind horses. Then they slingshot the person on the tube into large plastic coke bottles. The more you knock down, the bigger the prize. It was a riot! Besides the entertainment there were food trucks and other venders. All-in-all, I give skijoring events a 10-out-of-ten! It also sparked some curiosity to run the course next year... TBD.
This past weekend was the Freestyle International Ski World Cup at Deer Valley Ski Resort. We didn't make it to all three days of events, but we did make it for part of the Freestyle jump competition. I didn't quite understand the level of event we were going to. I had not grasped that we would be seeing actual Olympic athletes competing. It was truly amazing to see what these athletes can do, and very confusing as to why they do it. They were jumping 50+ feet in the air, twisting and turning, and landing. I've watched it on TV before, but in person is a whole other experience. Part of the fun of watching this was also getting up the hill to watch the event, and getting back down was even better. There are tiktoks about people falling down the hill, purposely sliding down the hill, and just how funny it was. If I had on my snow pants, I would have also opted to body surf down opposed to doing the side shuffle.
I know this is a shocker, but we went skiing. We ventured out to Solitude located in Brighton, which is basically the other side of the mountains behind us. When initially looking up how far it is from where we are it said 17 miles. Then once we used Google Maps it was about an hour drive because we can't obviously go directly across the top of the mountains. The drive was great, the scenery was beautiful (odd for Utah, right?), and the skiing was great. This resort is a bit smaller, and the crowd was also smaller. There were zero lines to the ski lift, which is always a nice bonus. One of the lifts was only for two people, so Alanna was thrilled to take the lift by herself. I don't think she ever has taken a lift by herself in the six years she has been skiing/boarding.
Brandon and I have been utilizing the hot tubs at the resort. There are three in total, one is located in the 21 and over side, and that's the one we like! It is a massive hot tub that can fit you and 20 of your closest friends; that is if you wanted to make people soup. For the most part, we are the only two in there when we go. The views the last time we were tubbing were great. We had a nice four days of sunshine, and then this morning we woke up to about six inches of snow and clouds!
Alanna is continuing to grow at derby. She is loving the team and learning a lot. It is going to be difficult when we have to leave, but we will keep finding other teams to train and grow with. This past weekend she didn't have practice because it was a tournament, so we went to the tournament and watched one bout. The juniors crushed their opponent with over a 100-point lead.
Alanna wanted to try to do my nails, so I let her. Do I like fake nails? No. Do I love my kid? Yes. She did a great job, too! She was patient, and professional. We had fun watching Gilmore Girls and having Mother-Daughter time.
Things we learned:
- Brooklyn (Van) has a weird squeak on the passenger front side - we are taking her in tomorrow to see what is going on. Used cars... Am I right?
- Alanna does a nice job doing nails. She can only get better with more practice!
- The Deer Valley ski competition was a big deal, and we were there!
- Skiing is good for the soul (knew that)
- The hot tub is great!
- Skijoring is super fun to watch - and maybe we will participate at some point!?
Much Love & Happy Times,
The Blackshire's
