Alpine Valley – Our First Family Ski Trip

Over Christmas vacation we took the kids skiing at Alpine Valley in White Lake, Michigan. The kids had never gone skiing before and Ken and I hadn’t skied in like 12 years! We almost booked a 3 day trip to Boyne Mountain which is a much farther drive than Alpine. Then we realized that it probably wasn’t the brightest idea since the kids have never skied before…what if they hated it?

Sidenote for video: Andrew is in all black gear, Blake in the blue coat, Chase in the yellow. Ken is in blue, and Karli is easy to spot!

After going to Alpine Valley for just one day I think we made best decision. Karli was terrified of going down any hill. She went up the Magic Carpet (a conveyor belt that you stand on and it takes you to the top) on the smallest bunny hill twice and was upset both times. Oh, I have to tell you when we were talking with the kids about going prior to that day Karli wanted to know if there were bunnies hopping around the bunny hills all day! Wouldn’t that be cute if there were :p So, Karli spent most of the day skiing up and down about the last 1/3 of the bunny hill. Once I stopped pushing her to do anything, she had a blast.

Andrew brought a friend and they had the best time. They are old enough to go off on their own and they took advantage of the ski lift and going down the bigger hills. They both did really well for it being their first time on skis. However Andrew did fall a few times and every time he had to throw a little temper tantrum. Check it out in the pictures and you’ll see the clip in the video where he throws his skis. Yes, this is the same kid that will have his drivers license in 9 months, scary!

I should mention that we were super lucky that the weather was perfect! It wasn’t very cold and not windy at all. In fact at times, us older -out of shape folks were almost too bundled up for the nice weather. The worst part is getting the skis at Alpine Valley which is set up so horribly! You have to go to one place to buy your lift tickets. Then you go indoors and up some stairs to pick out your boots. Then up some more stairs to get your skis fitted. By this point you are so hot because the lodge is over-heated, you can’t wait to go out in the cold. Especially when you are having to deal with kids at the same time and help them carry their stuff. Not good. If you ever go to Alpine Valley, trust me- don’t bundle up until AFTER you have all your ski gear. Whenever we go back that is certainly what we will do.

Chase and Blake both skied really well too. Actually I was shocked how well Blake did because he can be a bit more clumsy. Now Chase on the other hand I was not surprised at all. That kid has a natural talent for anything that requires balance and speed. He was all over the place and it was so cute how he would ski down the hill and turn and stop in position right back in line to go back up again. Sometimes he would ski crouched real low which made me think of how Olympic skiers are on TV. In the video you see him fall down a lot, but most of that is him just being silly and having fun. Plus those were the best clips to share!

The only negative, which Ken will try to deny, is that Blake and Chase would have probably gone up the ski lift more, but Ken had enough after 3 times. The first time wasn’t too bad. The second time he had a hard time getting Chase situated on the seat and the chair kept stopping several times while they were on their way to the top. That doesn’t go over real well with a guy who is afraid of heights. He also fell getting off the ski chair because he was trying to lift Chase off at the same time and he got knocked in the head with the chair! Hey, I can’t say I blame him. I was thrilled to find out that Karli didn’t even want to go near the ski lift. I hate those things as well. I won’t even admit how much money was wasted on buying ski lifts for Karli and I and we didn’t even use them!

Overall it was an amazing time and I could see us going again, but probably without Karli. Or if she goes then I wouldn’t rent skis or purchase a lift ticket. Maybe next year we will take the trip further north, who knows! At the very least I would like us to start a tradition of going skiing at least once over Christmas break.