Midwinter Break in Sun Valley with the Birgfelds: Part Two

Cally and I hit the slopes with the twins Monday morning. The views from the top of Bald Mountain were incredible. The mountains were endless in every direction. It was a little icy and we had to stay on the groomers. But there were no lines and tons of terrain to explore. Craig met up with us by midday and the all five of us competed in a little ski race organized by his conference. It was my first ski race and I was proud of myself for going for it! We spent the rest of the day cruising around the mountain and exploring until some weather rolled in and we headed out around 3:30. We stopped in at the River Run Lodge at the base before we left and it was incredible to see the number of people relaxing for après ski, how fancy everything was in the lodge, and they even had a live band. We wrapped up the day again with a trip to the hot tub and a quiet night at the condo as we were all tired by that point. 

My first ski race(!):

On Tuesday morning Cally and I took the girls up skiing again and spent almost all of the day on Seattle Ridge alternating between bomber runs and mogul runs. We ran into Scott from Aqua Club at the Seattle Ridge Lodge which was a fun coincidence. We skied over 20,000 vertical and enjoyed sunshine and snow that was a little softened and super fast. Craig met up with this halfway through and it was really fun to see him with the girls. We hit the hot tub again afterwards and then got ready for the big end-of-conference gala dinner. It was a fun event with actually really delicious food and the highlight was the live band at the end of the night. The entire dance floor was full before the middle of the first song. I’ve never seen anything like it. I had a blast dancing and even got to sing a little on the microphone J. Craig, Cally, Deci, and Eric were also out on the dancefloor nonstop, too. Eric’s breakdancing and rapping to Rapper’s Delight was so much fun!

Wednesday it was time to pack up and fly home. The hotel shuttle made it easy to get to the airport and the flight was easy back to Seattle. I hope to head back to Sun Valley again and share it with the kids.

Midwinter Break in Sun Valley with the Birgfelds: Part One

For the first part of MidWinter break, the kids were with Eben at the cabin enjoying powder skiing at Stevens. I got a special invitation from Cally and Craig to join them at his work conference in Sun Valley during that time. And it was really cool that other friends from LFP, Deci and Eric, were there, too, as she is taking over as event planner for the conference in the future. Though I missed the kids like crazy, this ended up being a great vacation all around and terrific alternative to staying at home and being sad.

Sun Valley is up at elevation and ringed by layer after layer of mountains. We stayed at a condo that as also part of the Sun Valley Lodge. The lodge itself was incredibly luxurious and comfortable and had amenities like a giant outdoor hot pool and hot tub, ice skating rink, and a bowling alley and arcade in the basement. There is a running and biking trail all around the village and cute shops and restaurants in the town. The town of Ketchum is a couple miles away and is done up in an old west style with many darling buildings and lots to do. There is a mountain shuttle service that picked us up at the lodge and took us to the base of the ski area.

I got in late on Saturday night and joined Craig, Cally, Deci, Eric, and a bunch of his work colleagues at the lodge for a drink. They were a fun crowd and welcomed me into the fold.

We had a slow Sunday morning that included having breakfast with Arnold Schwarzenegger which was kind of hilarious. We cruised into town in Eric’s truck and got groceries and explored the area. Then headed back to the condo and I went running while Craig and Cally took the twins ice skating. The elevation was a little tough on my lungs while running, but the views made it worth it. Then we all headed to the hot tub and relaxed to finish up the afternoon. That night Craig and Cally had a dinner, so the twins and I had dinner, joined for a little bit by Deci and Eric’s son, Ayden, and headed to the lodge arcade for ice cream. Then I met up with the rest of the grown ups later that night for a glass of wine.

The main Sun Valley Lodge

Our condos: