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Local families migrate west for school vacation week

Print | Comments () Posted by Jeremy C. Fox February 17, 2012 03:24 PM

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(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

The Steinerts were flying to Vail, Colo., on Friday afternoon. From left: Max, 10; Alexis, 9; and Nicholas, 12; along with mom Hilary, 49, and dad Langley, 48.

By Jeremy C. Fox, Town Correspondent

School vacation week is beginning for students around the Bay State, and many families are heading out of town to enjoy the week off.

Maybe it’s the unseasonably warm weather New England has had this winter, or maybe it’s just a love of the rush of speeding downhill, but seemingly every family at Logan International Airport today was headed not to Disneyworld, the Caribbean, or anyplace warmer, but to hit the slopes out west.

The Steinert family of Concord was leaving on a ski trip this afternoon, headed to Vail, Colo. It was the first time for 9-year-old Alexis and her older brothers Max, 10, and Nicholas, 12, though parents Langley and Hilary Steinert have been to the popular ski town many times before. Skiing is nothing new for the kids, though — each started around age 5, and the family spends most winter weekends at the Sugarbush Resort in Vermont.

Langley Steinert, 48, a co-founder of the TripAdvisor website, was eager to point out that he used the site to help plan this trip. He said he was looking forward to “better conditions” out west, while Hilary Steinert, 49, was excited about “great scenery.” Max just wanted the ease that higher elevations promised.

“In Sugarbush, there are trails everywhere, and I heard that in Vail there’s no trees above the tree line and we just get to ski,” Max said.

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

The Freier family is headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. From left: Jessica, 39; Joshua, 13; David, 42; and Ben, 11.

Another family of skiers, the Freiers of Newton, was headed 300 miles further west than Vail, to Salt Lake City, Utah. Eleven-year-old Ben Freier was most looking forward to the natural snow, rather than the manufactured snow that New England ski areas have had to use this warm, dry winter, and to the jumps and half-pipes of the terrain park.

But his big brother Joshua, 13, and dad David Freier, 42, were less excited about practicing tricks and more interested in the slopes. The boys’ mom, Jessica Freier, 39, wasn’t all that excited about the ski trip, period.

“I don’t ski anymore,” she said. “I don’t like the cold.”

Though the men in the family are quite enthusiastic about skiing — Joshua started when he was just 2 ½ and Ben started at 4 — David said some vacations are more to Jessica’s taste.

“We go to plenty of warm places,” he said. Though Jessica wouldn’t mind shifting the balance toward more warm vacations and fewer cold ones, she was able to see the bright side of her family’s ski trips.

“It’s nice to hang out as a family in the lodge,” she said. “I enjoy that time when we’re all off from work and able to be with one another.”

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com)

The Krahmer and Stapleton families gathered together before heading to Montana. Front row, from left: Davis Stapleton, 6; Drayton Krahmer, 8; Abby Krahmer, 10; and Molly Stapleton, 10. Back row: Lilly Krahmer, 12; Mason Krahmer, 14; Nancy Krahmer, 43; Mike Stapleton, 44; Will Stapleton, 12; Chad Krahmer, 44; and Evelyn Stapleton, 43.

One of the largest groups at Logan on Friday afternoon was the 11-member crew comprised of the Krahmer and Stapleton families, both of Duxbury. Chad Krahmer, 44, and his wife Nancy Krahmer, 43, have been friends with Evelyn Stapleton, 43, since the three met at age 19 at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio.

Mike Stapletown, 44, completed the quartet a few years later when the Krahmers introduced him to his future wife while Mike and Chad were working together at State Street Financial.

The children of the two couples have grown up together. The Krahmers have Mason, 14; Lilly, 12; Abby, 10; and Drayton, 8. The Stapletons have Will, 12; Molly, 10; and Davis, 6.

The families have taken many joint ski trips during past February vacations, usually to Steamboat, Colo., but this is their most ambitious yet: upon their arrival in Montana, they’ll be meeting up with three other families comprised of 16 total members.

“We’re all about the challenge,” said Mike Stapleton.

Nancy Krahmer said she wasn’t worried about the logistics of keeping 27 people on the same schedule.

“It’s more of problem finding a table for lunch,” she said.

Email Jeremy C. Fox at jeremycfox@gmail.com.
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