One More Skiing Post

Just a few more pics and videos from our last 3 trips to Sundance before it was closed down due to Coronavirus (even though you basically wear a hazmat suit when you're skiing, but okay).


Ben and I took 3/4 of the kids up for night skiing on a Saturday evening while Eliza went to the gym for a Kids' Night Out activity.  This was the night when Jack got a pole caught in the lift and it bent, then we tried to bend it back in place, then it broke.  Just like mine.  (Both of mine.)

(look closely to see Ben and Luke on the lift behind us)

I made the kids go skiing with me right after Eliza's birthday party.  They were pretty good sports about it, on the first run.  They were less enthusiastic on the second run.  And once that was over, they just wanted to go home.  It was another time I was very thankful that our house is only about 20 minutes away.

All season long I looked forward to a Saturday when we were available to stay as long as we wanted, with no other commitments, and everyone was confident enough in their skiing that we could just have fun, and finally explore the back mountain (which has more advanced runs than the front mountain).  We blocked off a Saturday in early March, and everyone had a good time, but the kids were done after just a few hours.  (One unforseen and surprisingly exhausting and time-consuming challenge: it was hard to keep everyone happy when they all wanted to get off at different stops, do different runs, etc.)  It felt anticlimactic to me to not stay most of the day, but at least we had a chance to all be together on the ski slopes on more time - less than a week later, Sundance closed for the season.  (And we had more snow later in March/beginning of April than we did in February!)  I only took a few pictures on our last day, including one of a perfect snowflake on Luke's coat.

 

And one last video compilation.  I love how in this video the kids were feeling so brave and psyched to go on the terrain course, but they almost always ski right beside the obstacles instead of on them.  I'm sure they'll be even more brave next year!  Also, I apologize to Cat for not making more videos of her.  The other kids were just so excited for me to record them.

Life Lessons Learned from Skiing:

It's okay to fall.  Just get back up and try again.
Stick with your buddy.  Look out for each other.  Be patient.
We're all at different levels.  The important thing is that you keep learning.
Be prepared.  (It's better to have handwarmers and not need them than to wish you had them.)
The right gear makes all the difference.
Something that feels awkward at first will become more natural the more you do it. (Wearing and walking in ski boots, carrying skis, etc.)
Sometimes it takes a long time to get to the fun parts so enjoy the fun parts as much as you can, because they often go by a lot faster (the ride up the mountain on the lift takes longer than skiing down, although the ride is fun too!)
Enjoy the beauty around you.
Learning to go is important.  Learning to stop is critical.
Be committed (dig in when you need to stop)
Don't fight gravity.
We all have to carry our own equipment.