The Wilson family takes adventurous vacations. My wife Carolyn and I both work, and vacations are a precious time when we have 24x7 family togetherness. We like to have fun and learn and discover new things. Park City 2005 fit this mold.

Our first objective was the United States Cycling Federation's 2005 Junior National Road Championships. Our sons, Nathan and Avery, both qualified - which is to say, we paid registration fees and showed up. The boys race for the National Capital Velo Club. At racing age 14, Nathan is having an okay season. He began by fracturing his patella at the skateboard park in early March. A month in a fixed brace and several weeks' therapy put him back in training and regional bike races by late April. When we left for Park City in mid-June, Nathan had risen to a fourth place ranking among 10-14 year olds in the mid-Atlantic region. Avery, racing age 11, is a solid, enthusiastic competitor. Rarely does Avery not finish a race he has begun - which is saying quite a lot, given some of the grueling events he's run in.

We flew out Saturday, June 18. Our four bikes were disassembled, placed in cardboard boxes (supplied by our local bike shop, Spokes Etc.) and checked as oversized baggage. We hired a shuttle in Salt Lake to ferry our bikes from the airport to our condo, whilst we followed in a rented SUV. Our first training ride Sunday took us from our condo at The Canyons up through Park City to Deer Valley resort - base for the USCF races. The seven-mile uphill ride, at above 7,000 feet altitude, burned our lungs and legs. Nate and Jim did a couple laps of the 3.35-mile Solamere loop road race course. Jim - the old man - found the hilly Solamere course painful, but fun with a 30 mph descent on the backside. We lunched on the grassy slopes of Deer Valley ski area, watching a championship mountain bike race sanctioned by USCF's sister organization, NORBA. On Monday, we drove to Antelope Island, a unique venue for the individual time trials in the middle of Great Salt Lake. Antelope Island is home to a variety of wildlife, including bison, deer and elk. The time trail was a hilly out-and-back affair, set at 10 kilometers for our juniors. We drove and rode the course a couple times, to preview and plan pacing for Tuesday's competition. (Our preview was a good thing; a number of kids turned around at the wrong point on the course and were disqualified.)

Tuesday's time trial was a classy affair, complete with an inclined starting ramp, noisy spectators, neutral support by Shimano, and race announcers barking results and cheering competitors. Nathan and Avery rode quite well - albeit, finishing towards the bottom of their age categories. Carolyn and I consider biking and racing as fun sport. We all ride together quite a bit and enjoy the challenge of improving our ability to climb hills or ride long distances. Nurturing lifelong habits for recreation and fitness is our highest goal. That said, the boys - and especially Nathan - want to be competitive at the national level. Currently, both are developmental racers. We will work in the coming years - as far as the boys are interested - to improve their racing skills in terms of tactics, nutrition, strength and endurance.

During Wednesday's lag day, the boys rode several laps on the Solamere road course. On a descent, Avery caught some roadside gutter and crashed. He garnered a painful 15-inch stretch of road rash - lost bark - along his left calf and knee. Ouch! Thursday's road race proved very exciting, with our 14-year-old friend and local star from Virginia, Stephen Koelbl, winning the race by two inches at the line. At the last moment, charging for the finish at 25 mph, Stephen thrust his bike forward to claim a photo-finish victory. Nathan and Avery rode solidly, but finished towards the back of their 55- and 30-rider fields. Friday's criterium was a nasty 1 km course, with four corners, a fast descent and a challenging ascent to the finish-line stretch. Nathan was not terribly comfortable with the course and tired from the earlier races -- and the pack was moving fast, very fast (only 5 seconds per lap slower than the 23-and-under Espoirs). As a result, Nate was among an early group of riders who were pulled as they were at risk of being overtaken by the pack in the 20-lap race. Avery, ever a crowd favorite, rode his entire race, alternatively smiling and grimacing as he whizzed around the gated pavement. Justin Koelbl ran away from the pack to win the 10-12 year-old event by more than 50 meters.

Saturday, the *real* vacation began. No more bike races. Jim rode a casual trail through Park City farmland. After breakfast, we visited the Olympic Park, where freestyle ski aerialists soared, flipped and twisted from ski jumps and splashed down into a specially-designed landing pool. From Olympic Park, we drove to Snowbird, up Little Cottonwood Canyon 35 miles away, for lunch, and rode Snowbird's tram to 11,000-foot Hidden Peak. At the summit, the boys regaled Carolyn with tales of their skiing and snowboarding exploits two months' earlier and the year before. From the tram base, we set out on a nature hike. Carolyn and the boys covered about four miles, while Jim broke off to head higher along the snow line for about six miles (Snowbird was open for skiing and snowboarding until July 4; in the high basins, snow depths were still about 20 feet). The boys rode the alpine slide erected on Snowbird's beginner slope. We finished our day with an über-sumptuous dinner at Alta's Shallow Shaft restaurant, constructed in the entrance of a former silver mine.

On Sunday, the boys took a three-hour mountain bike lesson with Thane, coach for the Park City juniors' cross-country mountain bike team, whilst Care and Jim read the Times and relaxed in The Canyon's spa. At noon, we four brunched atop The Canyon's gondola. Jim set out to hike to the top of the area's "Ninety-nine 90" peak, named for its 9,990-foot summit, while Care and the boys hiked the exceedingly lovely Mid-Mountain Trail and returned to the resort base by gondola. Ninety-nine 90 proved an immense challenge. The trail was weakly marked through the woods, owing to the receding snow and slight early season usage. Near the top, the route became technical and difficult. Jim abandoned and returned when he determined that the chances of his surviving a fall from the knife-edge ridge without major injury were nil. The route had become mostly vertical, with rope climbing tie-ins. Though there remained only about 100 yards to go, retreat proved a wise decision. Jim was alone, unskilled in climbing, and a little tired. He missed the gondola ride down and hiked to the base, completing his twelve-mile expedition at about 8:30 pm. Care and the boys were delighted to see Jim, though bemused (at best).

The Wilson's have a history of adventure. James Ricalton, Jim's great-grandfather, walked from Capetown to Cairo; crossed the Atlantic 47 times; walked across Russia; and traveled far-and-wide for Thomas Edison. Jim's Dad, George C. Wilson, was an intrepid war correspondent in Vietnam, Beirut, Panama, Iraq and elsewhere. (For the 2003 Iraq war, George first called the Iraqi embassy and asked to be an embedded journalist with the Iraqi Army - not the American Marine force he ended up with.) Jim's more humble adventures include photographing Arab slums in Jerusalem, photographing ETA rebels in Madrid (and being detained by Guardia Civil), marching (as a reporter) with communists demonstrating in Mexico, driving his beloved wife to the northernmost point in Nova Scotia (Meat Cove) and, now, a (failed) solo ascent of Ninety-nine 90.

Monday, June 27, took us to the lovely Sundance resort, about an hour drive from The Canyons. In the valley below the 12,000 foot Mount Timpanogos massif, film star Robert Redford has acquired and protected a glorious ski area, nature preserve, film institute, artist's center and health spa - a cultural gem. At Sundance, Nathan and Avery rented full suspension mountain bikes and rode the chairlift to cover more than 10,000 feet biking vertical. Carolyn and Jim hiked about six miles in the valley below Timpanogos, coursing pristine old growth forests, flowering meadows, and delicate waterfalls. Jim, who has hiked extensively on the Appalachian Trail and in Grand Teton, Great Smoky, Glacier, Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, and elsewhere, declared Sundance to be the most beautiful place he has ever hiked.

Tuesday to Friday featured more of the same - that is, at the wonderful extreme of a beautiful and thrilling sameness. The boys rode bikes in the mountains above Park City, Deer Valley, and The Canyons. Jim and Carolyn hiked and photographed the beauty of the mountains. We listened to outdoor concerts and dined sumptuously. The boys flew down aerial zip-line rides at the Olympic Park. We spun our road bikes up and about the valley, relaxed in the resort pool and hot tub, and caught a movie on the vacation's one rainy day. It was a glorious time, among the best vacations ever. Nature and exertion partnered with us at every corner. The skies were overwhelmingly blue, the peaks glinted with snow, and the forests were tinged with bright, new-growth green. We observed mule deer, marmots, pikas, red tail hawks, hummingbirds and other wildlife in high meadows. Care and Jim hiked 5-12 miles a day, at altitudes between 7,000 and 10,000 feet and the boys covered 20-25 miles each day on their bikes.

A mountain climber climbs, ever higher when he can. Next year, our goal is a month in Girona, road bike Mecca, to catch a bit of the Tour de France, practice Spanish, eat paella, swim in the Mediterranean ... or Whistler ... or ... (the dreaming continues).

Details and Resource links: [top]

Alta Ski Area. Gem at top of Little Cottonwood Canyon; skiing only (no snowboarding). Hiking and mountain biking when snow recedes (mid-July/August in 2005). See related Wilson travel link, http://www.jamesrwilson.com/ski.

The Canyons Resort. The largest and most beautiful of Park City's three ski areas. Less developed and less crowded than the others. My boys want to return soon for a winter ski/snowboard boondoggle. In summer, the resort gondola opens up easy high-mountain hiking and biking.

Deer Valley Resort. Base for the 2005 USCF races and, in 2002, Olympic slalom and freestyle skiing events. Mountain biking, hiking, open air concerts, etc. When I visited Deer Valley in the mid-1980's, the resort was beautiful and alluring. Sadly, in my view, it has become vastly overdeveloped, with condos and McMansions seeming to invade every sightline. It is like Burbank on an ice cube.

National Capital Velo Club. An exceptional bike racing club with a solid juniors program, based in Washington, D.C.

Park City Bike Fest 2005. Web site describing the 2005 bicycle festival, featuring road and mountain biking competitions.

Red Pine Condominium, R-6. We were exceedingly fortunate to rent this condo. It is perfectly outfitted (including a washer/dryer) and closest to the Red Pine spa (pools, tubs, sauna, tennis, etc.). During summer, rates are pretty cheap.

Shallow Shaft Restaurant. Sumptuous dining in Alta.

Snowbird Resort. Exceptional skiing and snowboarding (open to July 4 in 2005), adjacent to Alta; hiking, spa, etc.

Southwest Airlines. Provided inexpensive transportation to Salt Lake City; took bikes (in simple bike store cardboard boxes) as excess baggage for $50 apiece.

Spokes Etc.. Excellent bike shop in northern Virginia, with the best-in-area service department (Alexandria location).

Sundance Resort. Robert Redford's ecological Mecca and ski area in the valley below Mount Timpanogos, termed "Utah's Alps." Skiing, mountain biking, hiking, art and art courses, film screenings, spa, culinary school, etc.

United States Cycling Federation/USA Cycling. National governing body for bicycle road racing.