Spring Break at Manning

 It is spring break 2023 and it's the first time since 2020 that I am seeing an overwhelming amount of posts on my social feeds of tropical locations, palm trees and beaches. Hallelujah for international travel again!

For our family though, we haven't done a sunny all-inclusive since a nameless 18 month old had the projectile vomiting incident of 2015. It was recorded here and it was horrifying and we shall never speak of it again. So even though we have had more successful flights since then, we kept it local and went to Manning Park instead. Despite it not being Cancun or Maui, we had snow much fun (sorry, bad pun)

We rented a premium chalet again this year (in case you're interested, you need to book a year in advance to the day that you want). There's a bedroom for my parents, a bunk for my sister and her friend and a loft that has 2 twin beds for the kids and a pull-out for Simon and me. The kids loved having their own space in the little loft.

We lucked out and had two amazing ski days. The first day was bluebird sunshine with just a bit of new snow. Perfect spring skiing conditions. My dad got his senior lift ticket and did great on the slopes.

The second ski day was unexpected. We weren't even planning on skiing again but it snowed over 30cm the night before and when there's a powder alert, you can't miss out on that. 

They only groomed 2 runs so the majority of the mountain was insane deep powder. The kids kept getting stuck and some spots they were buried in waist deep. No joke.

The kids had their skis pointed down and not able to move with so much powder. Hard to ski when you can't see your legs under all that snow. Little Bro had so many powder spills that he decided it was 'too much powder' and sat out for a few runs til lunch. 

Never would I have thought there would be such a thing as too much powder and it definitely wasn't too much for Simon and me. So fun cutting deep powder lines on steep black diamond runs. This is what I think heli-boarding must be like.

Other than skiing and boarding, we also hiked Lightening Lakes. It's still on our to-do list to come back here in the summer and put our SUPs in the water. You can see in the pictures just how much snow has accumulated!

It’s also fun to collect “Sasquatch fur” from the trees along the trail and try out a beard, moustache or hairstyle. 

There are lots of family friendly après ski options to keep you busy: a games room (pool table, ping pong), a sledding hill, a pool and hot tub and an outdoor skating rink. My parents also have a VR set that they brought which was fun to try.

Just stock up at Costco before and with the full kitchen (and dishwasher), meals are pretty simple and that leaves lots of time for just relaxing together and family fun.

Mt. Baldy - you are a hidden gem.

Last year was our first time at Mt. Baldy and I raved all about it here last year so this year we decided to do it again. Here is the quick re-cap and everything you need to know if you want to do a ski get-away to Mt. Baldy as well

If you're coming from Vancouver, it's going to take over 5 hours to drive. Allocate more time if you have kids prone to car sickness because you might need to pull over and get them some fresh air and a break from the windy road

Once you see this sign, celebrate that no one threw up driving up the windy road

Mt Baldy is still a relatively unknown and under developed mountains which is great for lift line (i.e., there are none) but there aren't also a lot of accommodations on the mountain. Book early especially if you want to go in prime ski season. We booked Wapiti Creek lodge a year ago. It is the perfect set up for 3 families.

Once you're settled in, there isn't anything left to do except

EAT

SLEEP

SKI

 RELAX 

and REPEAT (for as many days as you can!!!) 

We were so impressed how well the kids kept up this year - not saying there weren't crashes or anyone getting stuck in tree wells but for the most part the kids were ripping between the trees on black diamond runs with ease. There was lots of powder so real injuries, just exhausting to dig yourself out of the deep pow 

We had a great ski train with Simon leading the way and all the lemmings (I mean kids) following behind.

One thing you probably didn't think you'd need on a multi-family ski trip is a strobe light. Everything is better with a good playlist (cue Michelle's Baldy Bumping beats) and strobe lights. It makes the mundane things like cooking and washing dishes together more fun and great for post-dinner dance and limbo parties.

That's a wrap on the 4th annual multi-family ski trip. I hope we'll be doing this until all the parents are getting senior rates on ski passes!

10 steps to an epic 40th birthday party.

Step 1: Go back to 1983 and make sure you are born in prime snow season

Step 2: Book a sweet place at Whistler

Step 3: Add really awesome friends (make sure they leave their really awesome children at home)

Step 4: EAT. 

Step 5: Wake up early and catch the 8:15 am gondola (side note: isn't it so much easier to get out the door without the kids?!)

Step 6: Find the runs with the best powder. 

Step 7: Note that signs that say "Cliff" sometimes means there is a cliff but also means untouched powder. Explore with caution.

Step 8: Finish the day having done 51 km and ski right to the front step of the chalet.

Step 9: Twice baked nachos and tuxedo cake are great après ski snacks. Pairs well with a soak in the hot tub and good friends.

Step 10: Make some unforgettable memories. Turning 40 isn’t so bad when you get to get old with good friends.