While many of my friends and their kids chose the beaches for spring break, we instead set our sights on the mountains. Following the call of the best snow on earth, our party of four – me, a gal pal, my teen son, and a cousin – ventured to Utah for a spring skiing adventure. Though it’s technically spring, a few days before our trip, the Wasatch Mountains were blanketed with over two feet of fresh snow. We knew we were in for a treat.

Planning for Powder

Thanks to meticulous planning, we maximized our seven-day adventure, exploring three renowned resorts and an action-packed sports park. Spring skiing in Utah is a season like no other: excellent weather, fewer crowds, shorter chairlift lines, and off-peak pricing. We combined visits to iconic resorts like Brighton and Solitude with a delightful discovery of Beaver Mountain, a hidden gem. Beyond skiing, we indulged in Utah’s local dining scene and unearthed unique treasures at thrift stores. Here’s a breakdown of our trip, destination by destination.

Woodward Park City: Action-Packed Fun

Day One began at Woodward Park City, an adrenaline-fueled action sports paradise. The boys reveled in the park’s 66,000-square-foot indoor facility, complete with jumps, rails, and obstacles for skateboarding, parkour, and more. Outdoors, the mountain terrain provided ample opportunities for snowboarding and skiing, alongside the longest tubing lanes in Utah.

Lunch at Slapfish Coastal Seafood Kitchen in Park City was a culinary delight. Healthy bowls featuring mahi-mahi, cod, and ahi tuna over vibrant salad mixes re-energized us for the journey to Logan. We stayed at the Marriott SpringHill Suites and dined at the cozy Le Nonne Restaurante Italiano. Highlights included dishes like Pollo Al Limone and perfectly cooked Tagliata New York Steak.

Beaver Mountain: A Hidden Treasure

Our second destination, Beaver Mountain, offered a charming, family-friendly skiing experience. Located about 45 minutes from Logan, this quaint, family-owned resort impressed us with its welcoming atmosphere and minimal lift lines. With 828 acres of skiable terrain and trails catering to all levels, Beaver Mountain was a perfect choice for our mixed-ability group.

The lodge’s unpretentious vibe and the pro shop’s “I Luv Beaver” souvenirs added to the charm. Night skiing under the stars was a highlight, offering an almost-private mountain experience. We capped off our days with dinners at Cafe Sabor, where the fajitas and quesadillas were unmatched.

Brighton Resort: Powder Perfection

Next, we headed to Brighton Resort, nestled at the top of Big Cottonwood Canyon. Renowned for its light, fluffy snow with an average annual snowfall of over 500 inches, Brighton lived up to its reputation. Covering 1,050 skiable acres with 66 runs, it’s a haven for both beginners and seasoned skiers.

While the boys conquered the terrain park, we enjoyed well-groomed blue and green runs. Spring temperatures soared to 60 degrees, prompting us to trade ski jackets for vests. A memorable dinner at Porcupine Bar and Grille in Cottonwood Heights included creative dishes like wahoo fish tacos and the irresistible porcupine sundae.

Solitude Mountain Resort: Grand Finale

Our final destination, Solitude Mountain Resort, was the largest of the three, offering 1,200 acres of skiable terrain and 82 trails. True to its name, Solitude felt serene, with open runs and no lift lines in sight. The diversity of terrain catered to all skill levels, and the resort’s friendly vibe made it an excellent choice to conclude our trip.

Though we didn’t partake, Solitude’s unique offerings include backcountry ski tours and an enchanting dining experience at The Yurt. Instead, we dined at Bandits’ Grill & Bar, savoring wood-fired barbecue and tri-tip steaks. The hearty meal was a fitting end to our exhilarating Utah adventure.

Nifty and Thrifty: Shopping Highlights

No trip is complete without some local shopping. We explored several thrift stores, including Deseret Industries and iconoCLAD, scoring vintage Levi’s, Vans sneakers, and even a sheepskin coat. Plato’s Closet in Logan proved to be a treasure trove for the boys, offering bargains galore.

Reflections on an Unforgettable Week

From thrilling mountain adventures to delightful culinary experiences, our Utah spring break was nothing short of extraordinary. Each resort offered something unique, from Beaver Mountain’s charm to Brighton’s pristine powder and Solitude’s expansive terrain. With so much left to explore, we’re already planning our next trip to Utah’s slopes – perhaps with an even grander itinerary.

Parenting expert Kiva Schuler looks at a radically different way to parent, where we examine our behaviors, expectations, and values as parents and stop asking so many questions about how to get children to behave

To raise happier humans with the courage and self-image to be risk-takers, change-
makers, and creators, we need to redefine our roles as parents. Because, let’s face it, traditional parenting suggests to most young people that their feelings don’t matter, they should play it safe, and that many of their dreams are impractical. This is not the way to raise future adults who believe in the endless possibilities of being alive, who desire to—and do—effect positive social change.

Just because something’s “traditional” or “normal” doesn’t mean it’s right. I used to be apprehensive when speaking about parenting. I didn’t want anyone to feel badly or judged. And I didn’t want to be perceived as some sanctimonious know-it-all telling other people how to raise their children. But, I came to understand Peaceful Parenting. And its universality. And freedom from sanctimony and judgment.

Many years ago, I told my team at The Jai Institute for Parenting that we only needed to reach people who already knew, or felt in their souls, that they wanted to parent peacefully but didn’t know how. “Families know what’s best for their children,” was the thinking. If someone chooses a more traditional approach, “Well, ok, but I guess they just aren’t our crowd.”

But no longer. Peaceful Parenting is, we believe, for everyone who cares about children and our collective future.

Recently, we overhauled our Parent Coach Training curriculum and dove into the most contemporary psychological and developmental research. We interviewed dozens and dozens of parents. We heard stories from their childhoods. Stories that sometimes broke our hearts.

It’s the rare person who wasn’t somehow wounded by their parents. Not because our parents didn’t love us or want to do right by us, but because of pervasive, long-held ideas about good parenting. For example, that good parenting has children meet some prescribed standard of behavior. This means kids are scolded, admonished, shamed back into line, and if they don’t comply, punished or even physically harmed.

Our culture tells us this is good parenting, which causes an internal struggle in parents like us who long for something different. We’re uneasy with the commonplace truism that we need to parent our children authoritatively while feeling—and ignoring or suppressing—the strong instinct that it hurts them and us. When children experience harm, even unintentionally, from the people they love the most, it impacts their self-image and self-esteem.

So when we yell at kids or withhold affection because they’re “too much,” or if we punish them or compel them to stop crying, we’re doing the same thing to our kids that our parents did to us, who were doing the same thing done to them. And back through the generations we go, one after the next, getting bruised, inside and out. Ouch.

Children today face seismic instability, born into a world that, through a constant barrage of news and media, instills in them the idea they’re not safe. Whether it’s climate change, media, the pandemic, etc., the culture is doing a number on our kids. They need us to transcend “normal parenting” now.