Learning to Ski, part 1

January was also Learn to Ski Month for our family!  After being curious about skiing for a few years, and even giving it a little go two years ago, we finally decided to go all in and learn to ski this year.  I figured we wouldn't know if we actually like it or not unless we really try.  So we bought season passes for the family, signed Jack and Eliza up for ski school through their elementary school, and planned on the rest of us taking a few lessons.

Friday, December 27th
- Ben and I went to Sundance together for the first time, on a date, at night
- He had a little bit of experience so we went to the handle tow area and he taught me how to stop and turn
- After a few runs there, we decided to try the lift; then since it was dark and neither of us had been there before, we missed the first drop-off, and when we saw the steep incline going up to the summit I seriously wondered if we'd make it back down the mountain alive and ever see our kids again
- We slowly, laboriously skied to the base of the mountain.  And headed home.
- I also broke a pole when it got caught on the bar of the lift, so I skied down using one pole and holding the pieces of the broken one until I found a trash can.

Saturday, January 4th
- We took all the kids to Sundance, mostly to give Jack and Eliza the most basic of basics before Ski School started a few days later
- We found out that the cheap place where we rented our equipment messed all kinds of things up: one of Luke's skis wasn't fitted to his boot, and Jack and Cat's skis were fitted to the other one's boots, and one of the sets of poles wasn't the same length.  This meant that Jack's skis were too big for him, making things extra hard for him, and that Luke couldn't ski at all until he borrowed Eliza's boots and skis (their feet are nearly the same size), and of course those skis were too big for him.
- Cat and Eliza took to skiing right away.
- Jack did not.  He got very frustrated, very quickly.
- Luke was in between.  The too-long skis didn't do him any favors.

Friday. January 10th

- First day of Ski School for Jack and Eliza.  They stayed in the handle tow area the whole time.

- I also had my first lesson, and more equipment trouble as I brought the wrong boots, grabbing Ben's boots, which look exactly like mine but are a little bigger, so of course they wouldn't fit in my skis.  We'd hurried as fast as we could to get to Sundance after school, stopping at home to change and eat a quick lunch, then dropping Luke off at a friend's house, and we were already running later than I wanted, so stopping at the rental shop to rent boots and get my bindings adjusted so I could have my lesson really bothered me.  Luckily, I ended up being just a bit late to my lesson and jumped in with my group right as they were getting started.

- I'd also forgotten everyone's goggles.

- After the lesson, both Jack and Eliza were SO HAPPY.  They LOVED it.  What a relief.

Monday, January 13th

- I went up to Sundance while the kids were at school so I could have my second lesson

- I continued to work on turning and trying to get my skis parallel instead of snow ploughing all the time

Friday, January 17th

- Jack and Eliza's second day of ski school, and their first time going on the lift

- Luke's first lesson, at the handle tow, practicing going up with zombie arms independently (he got up to the top of the hill about 50% of the time, his teacher said), adjusting his speed when coming down, and turning

- While the kids had lessons, I skied on my own and managed to break another pole