It looks like the snow is finally gone (i hope), so before the memory fades, let me document my day off skiing with the boys.

It was a Sunday, and Dad was out of town for the weekend for a business trip. When we first met, he was an avid skier, but we haven’t gone skiing in years. Life’s just too busy.

S, who loves snow and has no problem with cold, had been begging to go skiing for the past two years, and i thought it would be great to see how he does on the slopes. J? Well, he’d have to give it a try.

I looked up the nearest place, which turns out to be Liberty Resort, just north of the Pennsylvania border. I canceled our usual Sunday morning piano lesson, put the kids to bed as early as they would consent to Saturday night, and left the house by 7:30 am. The only worry was the prediction of another snowstorm coming in.

I packed a big bag of PBJ sandwiches, chips and baby carrots, and a handful of UHF chocolate milks. I knew the day would be expensive, and i didn’t want to throw money away on overpriced food. My other strategy for the day was that both boys would have lessons before we tackled any runs as a family. I haven’t been on skis in several years, and i’m not in as good shape as I’d like.

So, we got up to Liberty, parked and got our tickets and rental skis. I dropped S of for his group lesson, and J and I went over to the private (“Parent & Me”) lesson area. He’s too young for the group lessons, and he wouldn’t have tolerated being in a group setting anyway. My goal was “Everybody will have a good day!”

Our instructor was Ben, who was amazing! He showed me a few tricks to help J stay upright, and to get the right body position, leaning forward, instead of backwards. I wish I had a picture of J with Ben, but I was too focused on getting my own ski legs solid, and paying attention to Ben’s instructions and advice.

We saw S on his first attempt at a run on our second time up the chair lift (oh, and Ben showed me a nice trick for getting J off the lift!). S made his first attempt at completing a nice C down the mountain, but got a little out of control, and ended up stuck on the edge of the run, facing the trees. But the next time we saw him, he had it under control!

Here we are at lunch:

See those healthy carrots (at least I enjoyed them!)

After lunch, we tackled the slopes on our own. S was great, and actually ended up going on his own, since J and I were too slow. The first time S yelled at us from up on the chairlift, “I can’t reach the safety bar!”. I yelled back “Hold onto the seat!”. Later on he told me that he was tempted to jump off the chair (since obviously, to an 8-year-old mind, that seems like a fun idea). Thank goodness he controlled himself.

J and I struggled on one run. We both fell, and i forgot how much effort it is to get up with skis strapped to your feet, but even more so when you are also trying to keep a 6-year-old from sliding backwards down the mountain! We made it, obviously. (I had to take off both my skis, stand up, then put them back on, all the while holding onto the slippery J, who kept trying to slide down the hill backwards!)

The expected storm rolled in with rain, not snow, which made conditions a little less fun. We got in another run, but J was ready to quit. S could have skied all day, rain or no, but we called it quits at about 2 pm. Here’s the one snippet of video I managed to get:

Yes, it was an expensive day. But we all had fun, and S has demonstrated aptitude in yet another sport. J – didn’t hate it.

And, they were tuckered out at the end of the day, and we all had a good night’s sleep!