Zen and the Art of Skiing With Kids…

Zen and the Art of Skiing With Kids

(i.e. stick them in lessons and jump on the first chair-lift to the top!)

Okay, so that’s not what I did. But it sure would be great on occasion! Sometimes the little complaints from three separate voices can add up. Someone, no, EVERYONE is cold: toes, fingers, noses. Someone’s helmet hurts. Someone needs to pee. Someone’s starving…thirsty…tired. Sometimes that someone is me, but I usually have to keep all my complaints top secret just to keep the gang’s spirits up and get the whole crew up and down the mountain in one piece.

I skied past a mother and her daughter on the slopes yesterday. The kid was about nine or ten. I heard the girl complaining about something and then the mother say, “That’s it. When we get back to the village, you’re going to take off your ski boots and put on your snow boots. I’m NOT going to ski with you again!” This made the kid cry and complain even louder. But the mom was adamant, “No, I mean it. I am not skiing with you again.”–I felt like yelling back to the mom: I’ve so been there!

I did not put my daughters in lessons this year. I didn’t purchase them early so thus missed the /12 price tickets (lessons are very expensive on the mountain). Next year I’ll be the early bird and purchase lessons for a few of our days on the mountain. I was lucky that Peter wanted to stay with Pip on the magic carpet hill and practice with her all day–she loved it!

Although, I admit, yesterday was COLD at SilverStar. So very cold. I get hypothermic easily. By the time I finished a run and was standing in line for the chair-lift, my whole body was trembling. And yes, the pain of thawing hands and feet, when you finally make it back to the lunch room to warm up at noon, is agonizing (my hand was truly frozen and Tabs feet too).

Despite the difficulties, a day on the mountain is always inspirational. The beauty of a high alpine landscape in winter is amazing and surreal. In a natural world, it would be rare for a human to experience such a view. The steep, high and difficult climb through deep snow would keep most creatures far away from such beauty (except mountain goats). I always feel blessed to be up there, experiencing the raw alpine winter beauty.

I Hope you enjoy the pics above, taken yesterday while at SilverStar, on the top of the Monashee Mountains in BC.