Spring Break AKA Blizzard Cyclone Ulmer

We have been counting down the days to Spring Break 2019 at Pagosa Springs!  We haven’t taken the boys skiing since 2015....Cole was pretty successful in 1st grade and Carson was 5....we knew going in THIS was their year to really become skiers!  We had a big week before Spring Break with Ash Wednesday, 2 Open Houses, and 3 soccer games!  We loaded up the Pilot and set off for our 780 mile drive at 5:00am Saturday morning.  Mom, Laura, JD, and Austin took I40 across to Santa Fe and up, but we decided to take the northern route across Wolf Creek Pass just so we could see our beloved Fun Valley in South Fork, CO.

3 months and counting and we’ll be back!  We pulled into the Wyndham just before sunset.

Moms car arrived 5 minutes before us, and we were greeted with huge smiles by all!

The goal we a full 6 days of skiing....that was before Cyclone Blizzard Ulmer struck.  Sunday morning we were up on the slopes for our first day of skiing.  We decided to stick with Nova Chair and Lynx Carpet so the boys could get their ski legs under them.  

We had a very successful day!  The boys learned how to snow play, French fry, stop, and get on and off the lifts!  

What a beautiful day on the slopes!

Monday, Carson decided to rest his legs and stay at the condo with JD and Austin while we skied with Cole.

This was the beginning of the snow storm.  Cole was awesome on the slopes and was skiing blues by the end of the day!  Visibility also went from 90% to 0%!  Our last run was Blue run on Tranquility in a blowing blizzard!  Crazy!

When we returned to the condo, we were greeted by Sarah, Joe, Ellie, and Sam, and the whole gang was here and Ulmer arrived!  

We were snowed in for 2 full days.....45” of snow?!?!?!

We spent our two days finger weaving....

Sledding.....

And SWIMMING!

Thursday, we were back on the slopes, but the conditions of 45” of fresh fluffy snow were not ideal for new skiers, so Curtis and I set off while the boys stayed back with Grandma and the cousins.

We were the first ones up on the slopes and hit the fresh powder with a fury!

We skied the WHOLE mountain, and made our way over to Alberta Lift where we set off on Upper Treasure Black tree run.  Can you find Curtis?

30 seconds after this picture, I hear “HELP!  I’m sinking!!!”  Curtis hit a soft spot in the snow and went in!  Thankfully he managed to climb/scramble his way out of the snow drift.

Only to realize his skis were no where to be found.  20 minutes of digging later, he found the ski 4 feet deep in the snow drift.

 

Praise Jesus!  

After that near death experience, we stick Trails that allready has traffic.  It was a super fun day and the boys spent it sledding and playing in the snow at the Wyndham!

Yes, we knew Grandpa Les was shining down on us!  We sure do miss him....

Friday the Schettlers got very ambitious.  The rest of the crew started their 780 mile drive back to Texas, but we wanted to take advantage of the fresh packed snow, beautiful weather, and the boys wanted another day on the slopes, so we packed the car, left the condo, and were the first ones up on the mountain for a day of skiing with the fam.

Hooray!!!!  We have two more skiers in the Schettler house!  Carson and Cole LOVED it!

We skied and skied with a couple special treats packed to warm our tummies.

6 hours later, we were pooped and ready to start our long drive back to Texas with two skiing happy boys.

We pulled into the Dumas Holiday Inn Express at 8:30pm thankful for the Dumas Drive-Through Little Caesar’s we found a few years earlier, and Saturday drove the final 391 miles back to Frisco.  

We are so thankful to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Nancy for giving us this special week with family.  We missed them this week, but cannot wait til the next family extravaganza!