We did well on the drive, although it was at least 150 miles further than we normally tackle in a days' journey. We even left CA a day early to try to miss the forecasted high winds across the desert. We did miss the winds and skirted an eastern-bound front with rain. Nine miles from Williams, however, the light showers turned to a fairly dense snow. At first, it was no problem as the temperature (38 F) prevented any sticking. As we climbed in elevation, however, the snow began to stick and eventually we found ourselves in a huge traffic jam. A couple of trucks slid in the slushy snow on the incline and jack-knifed ahead of us on the highway. We were stuck in the mess for 2 1/2 hours and were beginning to wonder how we could fare overnight. The most beautiful big snowplow arrived and finally worked its' way to the front of the jammed trucks and made a wonderful path for all of us to work our way up the incline, past the stalled trucks and one broken down car. We arrived at the RV park only 10 minutes later, thankful to be in one piece and able to hook up our connections for a warm night's sleep! 
With our early arrival, we took a day to do laundry, clean house, review lessons and prepare our snow clothes for a day of skiing. We had spied the Elk Ridge Ski Area, just 3 miles south of Williams during the spring trip to the Grand Canyon. Because of it's proximity to the RV park, we could leave the dogs in the trailer and enjoy the day on the mountain. We knew nothing of the ski area other than it's location and that it advertised itself as a family friendly, beginner friendly ski facility - sounded great for us and it was! The first chore was getting our ski beginner into his boots while our older son tested snowboarding boots. 
We signed the kids up for lessons with their respective snow equipment and found ourselves to be almost alone on the mountain. We paid for group lessons, but received private instruction!
Cory's snowboarding instructor, Erin, was a former snowboard racing champ.
Will's ski instructor, Nancy, had only recently joined the staff, coming from Park City, Utah.
Of course, learning has a few tumbles...
But, as you can see, persistence and determination has it's rewards...
We didn't know until we arrived that the ski area had only one lift and it was a rope tow. We had a few tumbles figuring that out, but eventually everyone was gliding smoothly up the slope.
Linda got a little skiing in on the first two days, but did so carefully. Only one serious tumble and it was on the tow rope!
Another feature of the area is a couple of tubing runs...
And even football knee injury Craig could participate in that activity.
As a matter of fact, he was the long distance champ on those runs - outdistancing even the boys!
On the first day, the tow rope was broken down, so we all got extra exercise by hiking up the runs in order to come down. Because the ski area was not busy, near the end of the day when we were quite worn out from hiking, the manager gave each of us a ride to the top of the run on the SkiDoo. 
He even took Linda up to the top of the mountain beyond the tow rope lift to see the view and take photos of the Grand Canyon. That far line of blue is the north rim. Magnificent! 
The owners of the facility hope to have a chair lift in place by next season to have better access to the blue and black runs from the top. We considered this place to be a gem and absolutely perfect for our needs! We loved not having crowds of more advanced skiers and snowboarders having to put up with our beginners and the staff was the most friendly we've ever seen!
With our early arrival, we took a day to do laundry, clean house, review lessons and prepare our snow clothes for a day of skiing. We had spied the Elk Ridge Ski Area, just 3 miles south of Williams during the spring trip to the Grand Canyon. Because of it's proximity to the RV park, we could leave the dogs in the trailer and enjoy the day on the mountain. We knew nothing of the ski area other than it's location and that it advertised itself as a family friendly, beginner friendly ski facility - sounded great for us and it was! The first chore was getting our ski beginner into his boots while our older son tested snowboarding boots. We signed the kids up for lessons with their respective snow equipment and found ourselves to be almost alone on the mountain. We paid for group lessons, but received private instruction!Cory's snowboarding instructor, Erin, was a former snowboard racing champ.Will's ski instructor, Nancy, had only recently joined the staff, coming from Park City, Utah.Of course, learning has a few tumbles...But, as you can see, persistence and determination has it's rewards...We didn't know until we arrived that the ski area had only one lift and it was a rope tow. We had a few tumbles figuring that out, but eventually everyone was gliding smoothly up the slope.Linda got a little skiing in on the first two days, but did so carefully. Only one serious tumble and it was on the tow rope!Another feature of the area is a couple of tubing runs...And even football knee injury Craig could participate in that activity.As a matter of fact, he was the long distance champ on those runs - outdistancing even the boys!On the first day, the tow rope was broken down, so we all got extra exercise by hiking up the runs in order to come down. Because the ski area was not busy, near the end of the day when we were quite worn out from hiking, the manager gave each of us a ride to the top of the run on the SkiDoo. He even took Linda up to the top of the mountain beyond the tow rope lift to see the view and take photos of the Grand Canyon. That far line of blue is the north rim. Magnificent! The owners of the facility hope to have a chair lift in place by next season to have better access to the blue and black runs from the top. We considered this place to be a gem and absolutely perfect for our needs! We loved not having crowds of more advanced skiers and snowboarders having to put up with our beginners and the staff was the most friendly we've ever seen!As a matter of fact, we extended our stay so that we can enjoy the mountain for another weekend. El Nino rains are bombarding the west coast in a series of storms. In order to travel safely, we either had to cut our time short in Williams and high-tail it for Albuquerque, or 'hunker down' to ride out the predicted heavy snowfall until the storms have passed. Having successfully kept ourselves warm in the previous snows in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado, we feel confident we'll be OK. If not, we can always secure the trailer as best we can and take refuge in a local motel. Winter is not a big season for this little tourist town and the RV park obviously has availability....
We'll keep you posted on how this plan works out! Hopefully, it will be enough snow to have more fun with snow play but not so much that we can't make it to the slopes!
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