Becoming Skiers: Chara's Trip Diary Day Five

Posted in Trip Diaries
by Chara on March 5, 2011

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My daughter had been on skis before, but the experience, for me, was akin to dragging a 35 pound bag of flour down the mountain.  A chatty bag of flour who considered skiing down the hill a necessary evil that must be done in order to achieve the real prize: A ride on the chair lift.

This year was her first experience with lessons.  A snowboard lesson on the first day followed by two days of Signature 3 classes which meant there were no more than three kids to the instructor.

On the last day of our trip we only had a couple hours to ski before heading to the airport, so my daughter, my son and I took that time to ski together.  After two days in Signature 3, Little Miss Bag-Of-Flour was suddenly racing unassisted down Home Run, alternating between "French fries" and "pizzas".

As for my boy, when I picked him up after his first Signature 5 snowboarding lesson, he was bubbling with excitement and convinced that he was the best beginning snowboarder in the universe.  He was promoted to the next level for the following day.  However, after his second lesson, he was disappointed and tired.  "Mom," he said.  "I didn't have fun."  Apparently they were all over the mountain, on more difficult terrain than he had ever seen.

But the challenge paid off the next day when he tore up the easier trails with more confidence and competence than he'd ever had before.

Before this trip, my kids had considered skiing and snowboarding things that they had tried.  It wasn't part of them.  Now Lana considers herself a skier, Luc considers himself a snowboarder, and both of them are counting the days until their next trip to the mountain.