Like many families in this state, my family commits to a winter of skiing. We spend one day a weekend at the mountain all winter. That’s like 98 Saturdays!
The purchase of four ski passes for the winter is not a small investment and we take the edge off by packing our lunches and Hot Chocolate. Food at the mountain is expensive and would cost us 40$ a weekend. I sound like such a scrooge! But on the flip side mountain food is usually overpriced and kind of unhealthy.
This is our fifth season of skiing all winter and I feel like I’ve finally figured out what and how to feed us all food that we want to eat that will fuel us for a day of outdoor enjoyment!
Please follow my handy guide below.
Step 1: The container
Like most things in my life I’m all about how we will carry it! I use the same soft side cooler that carries our picnics to the beach when it’s warm. No more random bags full of food scattered throughout our gear bags. Our lunch will be in one handy place!
Step 2: The Beverages
It’s easy to forget that even though you’re not sweating and hot you can become dehydrated! We favor one LARGE container of hot chocolate (we add an extra cup). 4 water bottles. 1 small thermos of coffee.
Step 3: The Lunch (choose 1)
Cold Pizza! Like college students, we embrace the leftovers our fridge provides. Unlike the fore mentioned we plan on these leftovers. Friday night becomes homemade pizza night in the winter with and extra pizza just for the mountain!
Soup: This year with the addition of our new lunch box I invested in another hot food thermos and will heat up enough soup to fill all four. I try and make a big batch of soup or Chili on Friday night but often life gets in the way and canned soup it is. Spoiler alert: we eat about 4 cans of chicken noodle. I can’t tell you how nice it is to eat a hot soup after a morning of skiing.
Sandwiches: Often on Saturday morning our fridge is missing the one main ingredient for lunch…Food! When that happens it’s nut butter sandwiches for the win. They serve the purpose and fill our hungry bellies but we all appreciate something a little heartier!
Step 4: The Snacks (pack 3 per person):
Skiing takes a lot out of you and one of the best parts about exercising is refueling. The snacks I add to the bag are a rotating adventure. Some of our favorites of late are Bags of Pre-popped popcorn, Oranges, Larabars, Crackers, Carrots, and Pretzels. All things we normally have in the house and that are easy to pack a big amount of!
Step 5:
The Dessert AKA the bribe: Anything made of processed sugar that at some point during the day I can say “hey one more run and THEN we’ll go in have lunch and something made of sugar that will rot your teeth?”
I have to say that until I finally figured out what worked packing food for the mountain was such a chore. Good luck on your adventure and I hope this helps takes the edge off when getting out and enjoying what Vermont has to offer!
