Ski Bunnies

For the last few years, I've been wanting to introduce our boys to the wonderful world of downhill skiing, but for one reason or another, it hasn't quite happened.  So this year, we marked a weekend on the calendar, booked a room at the Duck House (why had we never thought of the Camden Snow Bowl before?), called in the experts-in-taking-small-children-skiing, and made it happen.

Here we go...
(Note Daddy's skis and boots, circa 1985.)

The first hour or so was dicey - Ben and I were peeling off layers of clothing as we repeatedly tried to wrangle two wet noodles into the upright position and keep them there.  We were quite happy to turn said wet noodles over to willing and significantly more patient ski instructors so we could actually get out of the perma-wedge and take a few runs on our own.  We would peek on our little learners from the lift - sometimes chuckling, sometimes grimacing, but mostly looking at each other and saying "wow - look!  he's doing it on his own!".  Ski instructors are kind of amazing.  We returned to find two "skiers" who could ride the surface lift and make it down the bunny slope all by themselves, with big smiles to boot.  

After a refuel (skiing=hot chocolate and fries!  hurray!), we spent some more time on the bunny slope, where the boys had their ups (perfect turns between cones all the way down) and downs (taking out the fence at the bottom of the hill instead of stopping).  Despite obvious fatigue, Adam refused to quit, insisting that he was having fun while all the while sobbing and burying his face in the snow.  

Daddy finally called it, giving Mommy and Ethan a chance to do what Ethan had been begging to do all day - ride the chair lift!  

I wasn't certain he was ready, and recalling numerous chairlift mishaps of my own when I was just learning to ski, I was nervous the whole ride up.  But Ethan aced the dismount and proceeded to have a fantastic first run down the mountain.  Both boys (and their parents) deemed Day 1 of Operation Learn-to-Ski a big success.

Since that first outing, Ethan and I have had an opportunity to ski together two more times.  One was the very next day, when everyone else was tuckered out but Mr. I-Will-Prevail-Until-I-Master-It insisted he wanted to ski again (and again and again).  He and I had a great time trying out all the blues off the lift at the Snow Bowl.  Then just this past Monday, I picked him up at school and we snuck off to Shawnee Peak for a few hours of skiing before bedtime.  I'm not sure what I expected, but I am amazed by how quickly he's picked the whole thing up.  While he's still slow and cautious (both good things), he really doesn't hold me back much at all.  In fact, I can't tell you how many times I heard "C'mon Mom!" on Monday.  This is going to sound selfish, but it's really nice when your kids get to the point where they aren't slowing you down, or forcing you to cut back or compromise your activities, but instead can get out there and fully enjoy them with you.  And watching them successfully tackle something new, with surprised pride and renewed self-confidence, has always been, to me, one of the most exhilarating experiences of parenthood.  Our family's entree into skiing went far better than we could have ever expected, and I am happy to report that I see a few more trips to the mountains in our future.