I managed to get myself out of bed at 8:00 and on the road by 9:07. The traffic was light and I made good time, arriving at the mountain at 11:00. I expected that there would be lots of kids there since it was the last Friday of our school vacation week. But when I drove in, I parked in Lot 2, right across the street from the main lot. I found my way to the bunny slope and saw Robert and Selim right away. They had been there for a half hour or so. Selim was having a blast. He hadn't had any major wipe outs and was getting the hang of turning and working on the hockey / parallel stop.
Ski technology has improved since I first took up skiing in the 70's. Instead of trying to get up the bunny slope on a T-bar, now beginners get to ride a "magic carpet" contraption. It is a big conveyor belt type of thing that they can step on and ride it to the top. It is easy to get off and on and takes away any fear factor of falling off a T bar.
I watched for 45 minutes or so before we all went into the lodge for some lunch. Jacob and Jero had been riding the beginner chair and had had a good morning of skiing and snow boarding. Inside the lodge, Selim and I warmed up by the fire. Fortified with sandwiches, apple slices, nuts, chips, lemonade, and cookies we headed back out.
After one more run on the bunny hill, Selim and Robert moved over to the chair lift. It was so nice that there were so few people on the slopes. They could ski right up to the entrance and never wait for more than one or two groups of people. I was a bit anxious waiting for them to come into view. But finally, I could spot Selim on the slopes. As he approached, he gave me the victory wave.
They went up several more times before taking another break in the lodge. Selim and I went into the sport shop and I bought him a pair of goggles. If he continues to enjoy the sport, we can look into getting him a ski helmet next winter.
We went back out for another hour plus. Everybody was having a great time. At the very end, the wind freshened and I got a bit cold standing down at the base. But all the guys had a great day. They stopped skiing at 3:00. It was the right decision -- the boys were getting a little tired and we wanted the last run to be wipe out free so that they would be eager to return.
At the end when he was steamy from effort, he took off his hat and helmet and gave me such a big boy look. I was lucky that he only gave me a few "Mom" looks throughout the day.
While I waited for the guys to come down in between runs, I walked around and took a few pictures of the area.
And the best part, Selim can't wait to go back. May be next time I'll strap myself into a pair of skis and see if I can keep up with him.
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