Of all the mountains to color Jen Hudak's life so far, two epic sledding hills stand out. The first is the driveway of her family's Vermont cabin, where she learned to ski. The other, separated by 2000 miles and 30 some-odd years, is the driveway to her remote Utah home up Tollgate Canyon, where her two little boys are growing up with more outside than in. 

Jen Hudak grew up spending weekends in the woods of Vermont. Her free time was spent chasing frogs and gardener snakes or playing make-believe. She learned to ski in that driveway, with her dad pulling her back up the hill on a handheld, handmade T-bar. Eventually, she grew to the resort, then the moguls team, and ultimately the halfpipe team. After graduating high school, Jen moved to Utah to chase a budding career as a professional skier.

Jen flourished as a halfpipe skier, building a 13-year career that encompassed two World Championship titles, five X-Games medals, and four US Championship wins. When an 8th knee surgery ended her career, Jen sought comfort and meaning in the way that the Vermont woods had taught her—she went outside. Wilderness soul searching took her to the Utah desert, where she serendipitously met her now-husband Chris.

In Tollgate Canyon, 25 minutes from the fur coats, box stores, and traffic jams of Park City, a steep dirt road winds through a scrub-oak-choked canyon. Side roads branch off to access A-frames and cabins tucked into the woods. Jen and Chris bought a lot and built their mountain home far enough out that they own a tractor to plow the last mile of the road to their house. By mid-winter, snowbanks grow to double-overhead.

A mountain lifestyle feels like a rebellion from the hectic standard of today's living, but that's not the point. The Hudak's life is normal, but their grocery runs are more precise, chores are more abstract, and there is dirt everywhere. Starlink keeps Jen and Chris connected to work-from-home work. Entertainment surrounds them. Summertime brings wildlife like deer, moose, elk, grouse, and eagles to their doorstep. Wildflowers and starry nights are the backdrop to their summers. In the winter, their world turns into a snow globe.

Unlike the ski town dwellers nearby, the Hudaks don't have to drive anywhere for winter recreation. The family can ski tour from their front door, and the kids have an epic sledding hill in the driveway.

"Some of our favorite moments lately have been evening walks," Jen reflects. Their 4-year-old rides his Stacyc, a mini electric dirt bike, while the 11-month-old watches from his stroller. The family's 12-year-old dog ambles alongside. They travel the same undulating 2.5-mile loop throughout the seasons. In the winter, they'll cross-country ski it.

Jen's kids are never bored. "We get to live in a beautiful house in a beautiful place that inspires adventure and combats "boredom" simply because of where it is located." When 4-year-old Hudson wants to go play at a friend's house, he fires up his electric dirt bike and rides over.

She's not sure how the kids will feel about their mountain home as they grow. Like all kids, they might yearn for what they don't have. Jen reflects hopefully, "But, maybe, like me, they'll return to their roots in adulthood and find that magical balance of remote living with a modern twist."