Skied it: Seven Springs February 2017
We hit Seven Springs Mountain Resort this past weekend at just the right time. While the whole ski area was not open, most of the runs were skiable. Unfortunately, the big half pipe was still under construction. We arrived late afternoon on Friday and were skiing by 5:00pm. Conditions Friday night were awesome, temps were cold, the mountain was not very crowded, and snow conditions were packed powder to loose granular with a little powder on the sides of many runs.
The kids got to making tracks right away. Our littlest loves any of the trails (we call them cruisers) that cut across the mountain; he is still a little gun shy about aiming those skis down hill. I have to give him credit though, he controls his speed well. My one issue with Seven Springs ski area is that many of the runs are a little too steep or too narrow for those that are learning. I learned to ski at both Hidden Valley and Seven Springs. I preferred (still do) Hidden Valley for their wide blue square runs; in my opinion these are the best runs to learn how to carve.
Our middle son, contrary to his younger brother, loves to bomb runs. He has no problem pointing those sticks down hill and letting it rip. He loves the terrain park and seemingly will attack any ramp he encounters. Seven Springs is just his kind of place – just steep enough but the runs are not too long. He was pumped on Sunday when I took him and his older brother over to the black diamond runs on the North face. He handled the grade of the hills and made tight turns.
Our oldest son has really come along as a skier. He is very close to parallel skiing. He just needs a little more confidence controlling his skis. Along with our middle son, he was super stoked to ski the North Face black diamonds.
On Sunday, we cut out in the evening, threw some pizza down our throats and hit the tubing runs. What a blast! The first few runs down the lanes were slow but, as the temps dropped more people showed up and those lanes turned glassy. I got my youngest in a little hot water with the staff. After each run you have to trudge to the end of the lanes and walk back along a make shift plastic fence line to the magic carpet. I showed my older two boys the large gap under the plastic fence as if to say you can cut under to save the long walk. Don’t you know, that is exactly what they did for the next few runs. My youngest must have picked up on it and was doing the same. Unfortunately for him, he knocked part of the fence down. The sort of friendly, yet too serious about being the magic carpet guard, fella stopped us and told us that our youngest knocked over part of the fence. I sheepish 7-year old apology was granted to the carpet guard and we were back in business.
Overall, I am very impressed with how far all three of my boys have come with their skiing. Each of them are making solid progress and getting better every time we hit the slopes. For a Dad as passionate about skiing as I am, it brings a huge smile to my face to see them getting better at skiing and enjoying the mountains.
For the 2.5 days we were there, the weather was all over the map from cold and overcast to sunny and warm. Monday was a standout bluebird day but by mid-day it got really hard for the boys to get any speed in the heavy, wet, mud-like conditions. We bagged it by 2:30 on Monday and headed back home. As is usually the case when we leave from skiing, it was a a quiet ride for a while. I never like leaving either.
