Yesterday, Bubbles and I went to Mad River for some snowboarding. We arrived at around 4:30 for the 4pm - 9:30 session. It's about a 2 hour drive from Toledo to Zanesfield. The drive down reminded me of another story that I'll recount over at the family site.
I was kind of impressed at the size of the hill at first. I mean, this is still central Ohio! There are a lot more trails at Mad River than there are at Mt. Holly and lucky for us, there are more easy trails, too. That's not to say that there aren't more of the other flavor of trails. I think they have a good range of all levels.
After we parked, we suited up and went to get our lift-tickets.
The first line at the ski lift was a bit disappointing. It was quite a long wait. They were at least making sure that each seat was full by pairing up doubles with singles to fill the 3-seat lift chair.
We didn't return to that lift again. Instead we worked our way around to the left side of the hill
where there was no line at all.
On our second ride down, we went around the side where you can see down onto the top of the tubing area. That looks like a lot of fun, too!
Life on the lift
After a few runs, it was time for a refreshment break. I was amazed at the number of boards and skiis that were in the racks
and even lining the sides of the building.
By the time we started on our way back to the lift we'd been using all afternoon, it was starting to get dark.Bubbles was making some great progress with her riding skills.
Slow and easy
She's learning to keep herself from spinning around when she sluffs off speed. She's also getting used to steering and controlling her speed at the same time. I would go down the hill first each time and she would follow. Every now and then, I'd stop and check on her progress behind me. As she was approaching me, I'd offer words of encouragement and advice. Sometimes she'd follow my advice. Sometimes she would just continue to do what felt safe.
So that I didn't get bored staying on the slower hills, I found obstacles to jump and ride over. One of those jumps caused me to fall more than any other. Eventually, I was landing the jumps every time. That's when I decided to let Bubbles use my phone to record some video of the jump. Of course, neither of the two attempts that I allowed her to film were successful. I'm not too vain to share, though.
Biff!
So close!
All in all, we logged just over nine miles on the GPS. As you can see, the hills we were riding on hadn't even been cleared of trees when these pics were taken. That's because Mad River underwent a $2.5 upgrade in 2006. The tracks are also off by a little bit as you can see from the road into/out-of the park and the blue line that represents our travel on that road.
sopops Sat Feb 23 09:38:24 AM OK Biz. We would love to have a update on the picture posted last night. Driving conditions didn't look great, and we assume that isn't the flat lands of Ohio. Reply
sopops Wed Feb 20 02:33:26 PM Rx refill day is every day here most weeks, its not fun to get old.
Talix18 Tue Feb 19 10:19:38 AM Snow-tubing is good times! Reply
sopops Sun Feb 17 09:27:37 AM What fun, makes Ottawa park look tame, and for me it would be too much. Reply
Betty Boop Sun Feb 17 09:08:12 AM how lucky you are to just have the one child at home. When you kids were young, there was no way we could afford to take all of you on a trip like that. And, if just one parent went with one son, which would it be? As I said, you are lucky. I love your wipe out and your laugh following it! Bubbles is so cute and lucky to have a pops like you. Reply
The drive down reminded me of another story that I'll recount over at the family site.
I was kind of impressed at the size of the hill at first. 
I mean, this is still central Ohio! There are a lot more trails at Mad River than there are at Mt. Holly and lucky for us, there are more easy trails, too. That's not to say that there aren't more of the other flavor of trails. I think they have a good range of all levels.
After we parked, we suited up and went to get our lift-tickets.
We didn't return to that lift again. Instead we worked our way around to the left side of the hill 
where there was no line at all.
On our second ride down, we went around the side where you can see down onto the top of the tubing area. That looks like a lot of fun, too!
After a few runs, it was time for a refreshment break.
I was amazed at the number of boards and skiis that were in the racks 
and even lining the sides of the building. 
By the time we started on our way back to the lift we'd been using all afternoon, it was starting to get dark.
Bubbles was making some great progress with her riding skills.
BizB Mon Feb 25 03:36:54 PM 
sopops Sat Feb 23 09:38:24 AM 
Talix18 Tue Feb 19 10:19:38 AM 
Betty Boop Sun Feb 17 09:08:12 AM