Ski Trip Weekend 2023

 

It's been a LONG time since I've been at Chestnut - I'm guessing about 9 years.  I am pretty sure the last time I skied here baby Abby was about 5 months old, and if I'm remembering right, Jamie and I didn't even ski!  We dropped the entire group off (back when ski trip weekends looked a LOT different), and went shopping in Galena and got too many breadsticks at our favorite Italian restaurant.  Fast forward, and now our crew is quite a bit smaller, and definitely a LOT younger (and involves way fewer flasks). 

This was our third time taking the kids out for skiing and truthfully, each time we go out out, they get a little bit better, a little more confident and the tears are a little fewer.  After a LOT of talking it up in the weeks prior, Ryan even got Hazel to try a snowboard for the first hour or so of the day.  His patience is endless - and I am thankful for him in moments like that (well, I'm thankful for him always, but you know what I mean).  

Hazel was very excited to "shred in the pow pow" - the words Ryan used to get everyone pumped for a ski weekend.  He said that her first run was her best run - before she was scared and too much in her head.  She switched over to skis and I took her on a few runs to let Ryan have a chance to go on a few runs after spending the morning on the bunny hill.

Jamie was a newbie this year too!  She was on skis for the first time since high school so while the kids hung out on the bunny hill with the Dads for the first little bit, just getting their ski legs under them), Jamie and I did a run or two ourselves so she could feel comfortable on them and would be able to help with the kiddos.  

The Bigs did awesome!  They did a few runs on the bunny hill (which uses a magic carpet to move you back up the hill), the moved over to Rookie Ridge (which uses a small ski lift - GREAT practice/confidence builder) and we ready to start down Old Main before lunch.  Truthfully, the Bigs have come a LONG way over the last 3 years.

The Littles are not quite as confident as the Bigs, but truthfully, by the end of the day both Hazel and Lucy were feeling like rock stars!  Not quite ready to try Old Main again (both did it once, painfully slowly) but we parents decided ending on a high note for the kids was important so we didn't push it.

I spent nearly 2 hours with just Hazel and I going up and down Rookies Ridge, letting her get better and better on the skis and feeling more comfortable with the process of loading and unloading on the ski lift.  There were three moments when I knew Hazel was feeling like a very accomplished skier.

The first was when she looked around and noticed there were TEENAGERS on Rookies Ridge and in a class with an instructor.  She looked over to me and whispered "Mom, there are teenagers that need lessons and I don't even need a lesson.  I already know how to ski".

The second was when Hazel realized that the lady running the ski lift wasn't slowing the chairs down to a near stop before she sat down on the seat.  She must have realized that they were slowing it down for her, and after a few runs of it going at full speed she said "Mommy, she didn't even slow it down this time".  I knew she was feeling pretty confident at that point.  It was a little painful going up and down and up and down and up and down solo with her so many times - another adult would have been fun.  But, truthfully that was what she needed and looking back, I'm grateful that I got to see her advance in this way.  They don't stay little long, and this is a memory I'll keep for a long long time.

The third, and most impressive, thing that happened was the moment that the Bigs found Hazel and I on Rookies Ridge and asked me if they could go down the hill solo with Hazel.  I did NOT believe them that they'd watch out for her, and go slow and help her on the lift (and that this whole idea wasn't going to end in tears), so I told them I'd follow them down but pretend like I wasn't there.  I skied down behind them and let the three of them load the lift all by themselves - and you know what!?  They did it!

I gave the lift operator a heads up that they were going to be coming down solo as a group of three going forward and to watch over them, and plopped myself at the top of the hill to observe.  

Those few solo runs were great for the girls - and I think it set up huge steps forward for next year when we'll go again.  We may even see if we can squeeze in two trips next winter to really get them feeling good about it.  

It was a good weekend with friends!