Phillip: Dinner at Four Seasons

Tonight Julie and I had dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant. The hotel is very luxurious with beautiful paintings and artwork in the halls. The waiters were all very friendly and we chatted a bit about the skiing. We started with a glass of sparkling wine and salads. Julie had beet salad with beet sprouts and feta cheese. I had watercress and endive with blue cheese. Then I had an elk T-bone steak which was a bit dry and too much meat for me. The polenta side dish was delicious. Julie had crepes with porcini mushrooms and oxtail; very tasty. For dessert I had a chocolate volcano cake with a fudge filling with a pomegranite sorbet. Julie's passion fruit creme brulee came with a coconut sorbet, which tasted great with with my chocolate cake. Each dish was presented very elegantly with colorful flourishes like the sugar crystal corona in my sorbet and the macadamia tuille which arched over Julie's sorbet. All this elegance and good food is thanks to our friend Nato, who gave us a gift voucher for the dinner. Julie gave him an acupuncture treatment at Mimi's dinner party and he felt so much better the next day, he surprised Julie with dinner at the Four Seasons. Thanks Nato!

Nicholas: Journey School

Yesterday I went to the Jouney School with Melissa and Michelle. I had loads of fun there. First I went to dancers workshop. It was a little bit fun. After that I had math; it was really easy. All you had to do was multiply and add in your head. I had Spanish with Melissa. It was easier than I thought. After school, I went to the Pierces' house. There we played Beckon. I always hid next to the jail so whenever someone was in jail, I would free them. When we went to tennis, I was with kids that were really small and were like 5 and 6. It was really dumb because we learned things like how to hit the ball. Yesterday I had lots of fun.

Julie after skiing Brook Mtn 

Frank and Mimi after skiing Brook Mtn

Frank & Mimi after skiing Brook Mtn

Frank, Mimi, Alexa atop Brook Mtn 

Phillip at top of Brook Mtn 

Julie above cooler on Brook Mtn 

Final switchbacks up Brook Mtn 

Alexa taking a break before final push to ridge of Brook Mtn

Brook Mtn, almost there 

Ready to skin up Brook Mtn 

Alexa- skinning Brooke's Mountain

Today Mimi hired Tom to be a guide for us and we skinned 2,000 vertical feet up Brooke's mountain. The group consisted of me, Mom, Dad, Mimi, Frank, and Tom. Skinning is when you put skins on the bottom of your skis and they let you climb up without slipping backwards down the mountain. It took pretty much all day. Tom said it was about a 3 mile hike. It was amazing even though it was really really really tiring. The summit was the most breath-taking thing I've ever seen. You could see so far, and the mountains looked so dramatic. We looked over the edge and it was a sheer drop. It reminded me of something you'd see in an Omni theater movie. After eating lunch, we finally got to ski down. The snow was so nice: untracked powder. You pretty much just floated along on top of the snow; you didn't really need to use any edging. We skinned back up one section and skied it again. Finally we skied all the way back down to the cars. I'm still wicked tired, but it was so fun and I loved it!

Phillip: The Bubba Snow Curse

We got here a week ago Saturday. The snow fall for our first three days was 10", 3", and 1". Then Bubba and her clan arrived on Tuesday. The snowfall for the next week was 0", 0", 0", 0", 0", 0", 0". Then Bubba left on Tuesday and the snowfall was 3". Hmmm?

We got on the first public tram this morning at 9:00 and I was on the last tram of the day at 3:30. Both runs down Rendezvous Bowl were coral reef. The morning was particularly bad because the clouds and flat light made it impossible to tell where the bumps were. All the runs in between were excellent. Having some new snow made all the trails fun again.

This evening the boys and I lounged in the Great Room and ate chili and chips while watching the latest TGR film "Soul Purpose." They ski some of the same terrain as we do in Jackson Hole, but they jump off the big cliffs and land backwards.

Tomorrow is a backcountry tour with Mimi, Frank, and our guide Tom Turiano. We will be skiing in Teton National Park with special touring skis, skinning up a mountain to ski back down. We rented the special equipment tonight and packed our bags with emergency equipment and extra clothing, so we are ready to go bright and early tomorrow morning.

Nicholas: Steller Jays

Today I was skiing with my dad. We wanted to get home so we went into Rawlings Bowl. It was really long and I saw a ski on a cliff. I skied onto the cliff and picked it up. I was scared that I was going to fall off and at first I was wobbley, but then I regained my balance. I gave it to my dad and he carried it down to the nearest chair lift. The chairlift was Union Pass. My dad gave it to the guy operating the chairlift.

On the way I saw a Steller Jay. It's a mix between a Blue Jay and a crow. It has a blue body and a black tail and head, with black spots on its body. It has a big black crest and beak. I saw it with my dad on a chair lift called Union Pass. There were two of them flying around a tree. Steller Jays are very beautiful.