Skiing

Remember the old American Express commercials?  Cost of new snow pants? $60, Cost of new ski jacket? $150, cost of ski goggles? $20…Seeing Jack and Katherine ski for the first time through a blizzard in negative temperatures?  Priceless.

We left for Vermont on January 1, kicking off the new year with a family adventure.  None of us had ever been to Vermont before, and our skiing experience ranges from slim to none.  Mostly none.

We made it!

Vermont is just like I pictured it—rolling snow-covered farmland dotted with cows, white painted churches with tall steeples and winding roads.

Thursday was our first day skiing.  It also happened to be a day of record lows and a blizzard that dumped 10 inches of snow on us.  Luckily, the kids had never been skiing before so they didn’t realize that these were not the ideal conditions—they didn’t know any better! 

 Bundled up and ready to go!



There were a few bumps in the first day.  We missed lunch because we totally misjudged how much time it takes to get fitted for our gear, get it all on and carry our skis to the mountain.  FYI: it takes a really long time.  Especially if you are inexperienced. 

It's a blizzard out here!

Our first lesson was difficult.  When you are learning how to ski, the instructor has to go over a lot of important information.  We learned how to put our skis on, how to take them off, how to get up when we fall, how to stop, how to walk up a hill sideways….basically he covered everything except actually skiing.  So there was a lot of standing around in the frigid storm and, oh by the way, did I mention that we were hungry?

Don't make me go back outside, Mom!

After that first lesson, Katherine swore off skiing for eternity and decided that walking home to Virginia would be better than getting back in those ski boots.  Luckily, a large hot chocolate with extra whipped cream convinced her to stay.  Paul was also feeling frustrated—it is not easy to learn how to ski in your 50s.  You are well aware of the dangers of skiing and your own limitations—not the ideal combination.  Still, he persevered and suited up for another go-around.

Mom, my hair is frozen.

Our second time out was much better.  Now that we had covered the basics, we got to practice skiing!  By the end of the day, the kids were confident enough to take the lift up without us and ski down together.  It was still freezing, but we had hand and toe warmers and were bundled up from head to toe.  

Overall, it was a good trip.  As you can see, by the end, we were all smiling...but that could be because we had just taken the skis off!