Sledding was far more entertaining for Jack than skiing had been. Aside from the whole not getting hurt thing, sledding didn't take any effort on his part. Thanks to the boys, who were keeping their word to Daniel to watch over him. They'd all carried big inner tubes outside with them, and Teal'c had supported Jack through the snow until they'd reached the towrope. Then Shawn had dropped his inner tube right at the rope, and told Jack to get on it. O'Neill had looked at it dubiously, but had done as the boy told him, carefully lowering himself onto the tube, his legs mostly supported by one side of the tube, and the middle of his back resting on the other side.

"You in?" Shawn had asked him.

Jack nodded, and the boy flopped down on him, avoiding the injured knee, but sprawling in Jack's lap. Then the two of them had reached up and grabbed the rope, and allowed it to tow them about halfway up the length of the run. Shawn had rolled off Jack's lap and pushed them a little to the side to avoid hitting the others that were being pulled up, and then had jumped back on when gravity had taken its control and the tube had started sliding down the hill again.

The trip down was fast, and fun, and Jack was surprised to see that it was also as safe as everyone had kept saying it was. They didn't tip over. They didn't crash into anything. They didn't even come close. Jack couldn't help but smile himself when the tube came to a stop at the base of the ski area. Shawn whooped, and jumped off the inner tube, then helped Jack off as well. The two of them walked slowly over to the towrope again – limited by Jack's serious immobility, and repeated the process.

The other adults were joining in the fun as well. All of them either had their own tube or were sharing with one of the boys, making sure that they were having the time of their lives as well. The weekend was really about them, after all. The mountain slope rang with laughter and shouts as the afternoon progressed without incident or injury, even though a couple of the tubes did eventually tip over, more because the occupant wanted it to, though. There was some enjoyment to be had from hurtling down a snowy hill like a big snowball, after all.

All thru out the afternoon, the adults or kids would take a break and go back inside to warm up, or to get something warm to drink. Jack didn't go, because he didn't feel like making the long trek back into the lodge – not even for a cup of coffee. Shawn was chilly, but he didn't want to leave Jack alone. Andrew and Teal'c had been sharing a very large inner tube all afternoon, and had been in and out of the lodge all day, stopping every so often for a drink. After all, Andrew was a small boy, and Teal'c was careful to make sure that he didn't get chilled. It was easy enough to do. He just told the boy he wanted to stop, and headed for the lodge, and Andrew invariably followed.

The four of them met at the bottom of the run and looked around to see that they were the only four out on the slope just then. Simon and David had been teamed up with Scott and Tyler, and those four were on their way inside for a quick break. Carol and Brittany were sitting on the porch of the lodge, getting snowboards on William and Tyler, and the others were nowhere to been seen. Presumably they were inside, as well. (Anna had went in long ago, and was most likely annoying Daniel.) Which was fine with Jack.

O'Neill looked over at Shawn and noticed for the first time that he was shivering. Jack smiled, thinking the kid was as loyal as they came, but that he was going to catch pneumonia if he stayed out much longer.

"Shawn? Why don't you run in and get something warm to drink?" He asked, pointing to the retreating backs of David and the other three.

"I'm okay, Jack." Shawn had said.

"You're shivering. Go inside, okay?" He knew that wasn't going to be enough to get Shawn to go warm up, so he played a trump card. "Maybe you could see if Shelby would give you a thermos of coffee for me? That way I don't have to try and walk all the way back there?"

"I'm sure grandma would, Jack," Andrew agreed. He and Teal'c had just been inside, so they knew there was hot coffee. And hot chocolate.

"Sure, Jack. If you're cold, I'll bring you something warm to drink."

Shawn was well aware that he'd promised Daniel he'd take care of Jack, after all. And getting him something warm to drink seemed to be a definite part of keeping him warm.

"I'll be right back."

"Thanks, Shawn."

Jack watched as the boy walked off towards the lodge, purposely walking through the snow that no one had walked through yet, simply so he could be the first to make tracks in it. Of course, since the new snow went up past his knees, it made trekking a little hard, but that was all part of the fun when you were ten.

"We're going to go up on another run, Jack," Andrew said from behind him. "Want to join us?"

Jack turned and looked at the tube. It was plenty big enough to hold all three, and Shawn wouldn't be back in the amount of time it took to make a run. Probably. It was either that or just stand around. Or sit around in the tube. Jack shrugged, grinning at Teal'c.

"Why not?"

He limped over and waited for Teal'c to get the tube in the proper position.

~*~

Carter was getting more and more worried as time went by. True, she'd only been at the entrance to the road for a half an hour or so, but it seemed like much longer. She continued trying Jack's number, and Daniel's, but neither was answering.

The CDOT had brought in a snowplow to start clearing the road going toward the lodge and the few houses that were also up along the same road. So far, though, as far as Sam knew, no one had talked to anyone in the lodge.

'Don't worry, Miss," the DOT guy she'd first talked to said as the crew began putting up a road detour sign in the area. "We haven't had any serious slides all year. I'm sure your friends are fine."

Sam was getting tired of being called 'Miss' but she also knew the man wasn't being rude about it, and she understood he was trying to make her feel better, so she bit back the comment she was going to make, and dialed Daniel's number again. With the same results as before.