Learning to Ski

Boy, oh boy, did we do something exciting this past weekend?  At the end of the summer we had talked a bit about getting the boys skiing this winter, so we bought a few passes and finally did it.  We headed up to Sipapu, a resort a couple of hours away.  One thing I need to remember with experiences like this is to keep expectations low, otherwise frustration ensues!!  

Day 1:  To start with, our expectations weren't low enough.  Once you pull up to the resort, you expect to get out, hit the slopes and let the fun and learning begin!  Except for that important detail of gear.  All the gear.  Skis and boots never seemed so daunting before, but after trying to just get everyone standing upright in skis and boots we were ready to throw in the towel.  We finally succeeded, although it wasn't always pretty, and after enrolling the older two boys in an hour long ski school class the day officially began.  The boys learned basics, sort of.  Dawson hung out with Corey and I on the little bunny hill and basically pushed ourselves down the very slight decline with him in tow.  He thought the magic carpet was great.  After the boys' quick lesson, we realized they still both had no clue how to ski.  So, Corey tried working with them a bit more on the beginner hill (which, for the record was pretty steep for newbies).  After a few hours, some blizzard-y cold weather and a few very defeated kids, day one came to a close.  Asher was frustrated, Beckett wanted to give up, and the rest of us were cold and tired.  We stayed in a little cabin at the resort and had some much needed fun playing card games, eating, drinking cocoa and watching a movie.  Oh, and sleep, also some much needed sleep.

Day 2:  What a difference a day makes.  First thing in the morning I took Asher and Beckett  to the steep beginner hill, worked with them separately for a few minutes (with my extremely limited skiing expertise, yikes), and low and behold, they both picked it up in no time.  It was a miracle.  They wanted the real hills right away, and by days end they were going down blues and greens no problem, and having fun while doing it.  Beckett likes using poles, Asher does not.  Beckett wanted to do black diamond runs but I didn't let him.  The Passey's came up and skied also, so the boys skied with Noah for part of the day and loved that too.  Corey and I did eventually get in some runs ourselves and had some fun. We found that after 20 years of not skiing (and only having been 3 or so times ever anyway) that we weren't any better or worse off, except that we might need to be more careful with our knees! Dawson ended up being pretty good at doing the 'pizza' while coasting down a little hill, and feels comfortable with all the gear, but we'll be doing some more learning with him.  Some funny skiing terminology my boys came up with:  sticks= poles, squad (Dawson)= quad, forklift = chairlift, mobiles= moguls.  

All in all, the weekend was a success!  Thank goodness.  We had lots of snow, red cheeks, hot chocolate and games (I Spy, Snap and Memory with D).  The boys made a snow fort before we headed out, begged for season passes, and nobody wanted to go home. Yay for our little skiers!