It’s been a long time since Ian and I had a weekend at home without a race, friends or family in town. So on Valentine’s Day we enjoyed a mellow morning with our favorite Swedish pancakes for breakfast and then loaded up for the short drive to Williams Peak (aka Willies) near Sunlight Mtn. We’ve only skied Willies once before, but it’s known to be a pretty mellow backcountry ski tour with virtually no avalanche danger. We figured it would a great place to take Juniper skiing.

It took us about 45 minutes to skin up. I was carrying Juniper in the Ergo Baby Carrier and she was asleep within 10 minutes. So, we put the hood up and she was snug and warm, despite the blustery, snowy conditions. The Ergo is awesome.

Sleepy baby.

We stopped short of the peak, where it was a little less windy and transitioned for the downhill ski.

Juniper woke up as we peeled skins.

I was on my lightweight rando skis, so these turns aren't the prettiest, but Juniper didn't seem to mind. She yelled "weee" the whole way down.

Juniper waving to Daddy.

Dad was a little late with the camera here, but I just caught SICK phonebook air. Juniper loved it.

On Sunday, we had some more family fun and took Juniper in the Chariot on a XC ski tour at Snowmass. I towed her up something called the Terminator, which was steep and punishing, but still a lot of fun.

I’m going to try and get in some more training this week in preparation for the Snowmass COSMIC race. This is my favorite course of all the COSMIC races; terrific terrain and a fun adventure skiing from Snowmass to Buttermilk. If you’ve ever wanted to try a rando race, this is the one to do!