I open the door to the vehicle and the girls jump out ready for another snowboard adventure with my toddlers. To hold them back, I give each of them a chocolate croissant that I intentionally packed to give me extra time to organize all of our gear. I am a little tired, but then it hits me. The fresh mountain air energizes my soul and I smile. We are at Lake Louise today about to go snowboarding. That means it is going to be a good day.
I feel incredibly lucky because, over the next two days, my husband and I will have two mornings to shred without the kids. Our oldest is in a three-hour snowboarding lesson and our youngest is spending the morning doing a combination of childcare and a two-hour lesson. Then, in the afternoons, we will reconnect with the girls for lunch and enjoy some time snowboarding together as a family.
After packing up our sled with our snowboarding gear, I walk with the girls to the daycare to drop off our four-year-old with her toddler snowboard. She is a little nervous but the daycare staff soon eases her reservations. She jumps right into an activity.
Full Disclosure: This post was done in partnership with Lake Louise Ski Resort. However, all opinions are our own.
The daycare is large, the staff is friendly and I find out that they take babies as young as 18 days!
I had never heard of a resort that would take such young infants. Reservations are required in advance (think a couple of months during high season) as they are limited in the number of young babies under the age of 18 months that they are legally allowed to have in the daycare.
The childcare accepts children from the age of 18 days up to age six. However, if your six-year-old is in grade one, then they are too old and must take a lesson instead. In addition to childcare, you can add an hour or two-hour lesson to the package. If you ever want your young ones to do a lesson then this is a great option as you save on the pricing of the lesson by simply adding it to the childcare experience. Pricing varies on whether you add a group or private lesson.
Since our oldest is six-years-old and in grade 1, she is not able to be in the daycare. Instead, she is taking a three-hour private lesson.
After giving hugs and kisses to my youngest at the daycare, I walk with my oldest to the private lesson meet up spot. She is excited to work on her S-turns but also a little nervous. She still has yet to master that important snowboarding skill.
The instructor greets us with a big smile on his face and I can already tell that she is going to have a lot of fun showing off her skills. They head off to snowboard on the bunny hill.
The bunny hill at Lake Louise is one of the best beginner areas.
There are three different magic carpets up the mountain which provides a variety of different lengths and widths for new riders and skiers. I sometimes find that some bunny hills are just too short for beginners to master a skill. This is not the case at Lake Louise.
About mid-way during our shred session, my husband and I decide to sneak a peek of the girls in their lessons. In the distance, I see that our oldest has officially mastered carving and I am shocked that the instructor built up her confidence so quickly. A little lower down the bunny hill, I see our four-year-old smiling as she board slides both ways with her instructor. She is having a blast. I later find out that she had no problem staying out and snowboarding for two hours.
While the girls enjoy their lessons and daycare, my husband and I go searching for epic snowboarding shoots.
I had heard that Lake Louise had some epic skiing and snowboarding, but never was given the opportunity to truly explore the mountain. This time, I decide to go up and ask one of the staff members if it is possible to find some powder, even though there was not that much snowfall in the last couple of days.
They tell me to head up ‘Glacier Express Chairlift’ and then up ‘Top of the World Express’. From there, I was to snowboard down to the ‘Summit Platter’ lift which is known as the ‘crotch grabber’ by some locals. While uncomfortable for snowboarders, the T-bar heads to the top of the mountain where you can hike to various shoots on the backside.
It was worth the effort, and I start grinning ear to ear as the powder sprays my face.
I feel so alive. I love shredding with the girls but sometimes it is important for me to push myself physically and truly dive into some more extreme adventure pursuits. Since the T-bar did not open until mid-morning, I look at my watch and realize that we need to hurry back to the bunny hill to pick up the kids. I increase my speed and shred to the ‘Paradise’ chairlift located on the backside of the mountain. I head back up the mountain and then snowboard down the frontside to the bunny hill to pick up the kids. I arrive just in time!
After an hour lunch break, it was time for a family shred session up the chairlift.
Based on a few recommendations, we find ourselves riding up the ‘Glacier Express’ chair lift. As soon as we are at the top of the lift, I do my best to make the girls wait. They always want to start riding before I can manage to strap my boot into my other binding.
Soon enough we start heading down the mountain. But, as I watch the girls start to shred down the mountain, I pause. I was in awe of their new skills. Every time we go, they seem to improve so much.
I continue to ride down the mountain with a smile on my face and pass the turn off for the ‘easy way’ down. Oops. We were now all of a sudden on a blue run.
I start to worry but look up to see my six-year-old fluidly carving down the mountain as my four-year-old board slides past me yelling ‘hi mom’! Our family shred sessions just became more epic.
For more information:
Learn more about Lake Louise Ski Resort here.
Learn more about daycare at Lake Louise Ski Resort here.
Learn more about private lessons at Lake Louise Ski Resort here.
Learn more about group lessons at Lake Louise Ski Resort here.
