Wesley Muresan & Family

Have you seen the video of Wesley Muresan snowboarding at Sundown Mountain near Dubuque, IA?  This little guy has a big heart for snowboarding. At 3 years old Wesley took his board off the beginner slope and onto the big hills and soon found a passion for getting some air and sliding some rails.

Wesley, his 8 year old brother Devin and his parents make a trip to Sundown Mountain 3 to 4 times a week, but Wesley isn't your average snowboarder.  You will find Wesley in the big terrain park doing launch rails, box rails, rainbow rails; he goes off jumps and even grabs his board while he's in the air.  At just over 30 lbs and only 3 feet tall, sometimes it is difficult for young Wesley to get enough momentum to make it over some of the features.  

The Muresan Family

The Muresan's moved to Dubuque, IA about 7 years ago.  Originally from Sycamore, IL, Wesley's mom Danelle started skiing at age 12 and had only skied a handful of times since then and her husband didnt put on a pair of skis until he turned 25 years old....until this year.  

The Muresan's decided this was the year to get the whole family involved in skiing and snowboarding.  Danelle and Alin thought it would be a great activity to do together and keep them active and outdoors during the winter.  Assuming they would be spending a majority of the time on the beginner hill, they were both surprised at how fast Devin and Wesley picked up snowboarding. Danelle says, "..they looked like they were having so much fun that I took a snowboarding lesson a couple weeks ago and now I snowboard with them instead of skiing.  It is so much more fun coming to Sundown together than spending the day in front of the television!"

"Watching our Boys is So Precious"

Getting started in a family winter sport like skiing and snowboarding can be a bit pricey, but once you have your equipment and purchase a season pass you can visit Sundown anytime and Danelle says it is one of the best decisions they have ever made.  "We have had so much fun coming out to Sundown... and watching our boys learn to snowboard at a young age is so precious" says Danelle.

Riding with a 3 Year Old

It is quite interesting riding with a 3 year old says Danelle.  Wesley is a kid at heart and has a real imagination; it is hard for him to understand why the chair lift is "sooo boring".  To Wesley, this is not a suitably quick way to get to the top of the Mountain, just an interruption to what he loves to do; shred down the slopes.  Sometimes Wesley stops when he is almost down the hill and sits down with his arms crossed and refuses to come down the rest of the hill because he doesn't want to ride the "boring" chair lift. 

Wesley loves to watch snowboarding videos when he is taking  a break from snowboarding to learn some new tricks. His favorite video is one of Shaun White at 11 years old.  Wesley talks about his plans  to go snowboarding with Shaun in his secret halfpipe.

While many families find it difficult to even find time for an evening meal together, the Muresans have that and more on the slopes at Sundown Mountain near Dubuque, IA.  It's amazing how much quality, family time you can have together when the only distraction is having fun.