Ready To Go?

“Boots, skis, poles- everyone got their pass?” that is the conversation as we load up the truck for our first day of skiing as a family. It is always a mad scramble, do we have everything? Do the kids boots fit? Ooops, forgot to put on a summer coat of storage wax, that’s ok we’ll ski off the rust. Where are the poles? Helmets, check- what the heck happened to that pair of goggles? There is one ski sock- that doesn’t really help. Looking at my wife- remember when we just had to keep track of our own gear?

That first trip is hectic, and that is just trying to get the truck loaded so that we can get to the mountain. Once we get to the mountain the first real test begins. Can the kids remember how to walk in ski boots? Can the youngest now carry their own gear? Do we all walk from the parking spot, or do I do the nice Dad thing and drop them off over near the lift. We chance it and get a fairly close parking spot and let the kids walk. Of course I can figure out how to get all the gear carried, but then I forget my gloves in the truck- two steps forward, three back.

It’s all worth it when we finally get to the lift and start heading up the hill. As we get off all the challenges of getting to the hill are soon forgotten as we let gravity take over and we begin sliding down the hill. All of us try to find our balance and remember how to stand on our skis. Slowly we get the rhythm and we being to pick up the pace. For the girls another year of growth gives them greater strength and improved balance, for my wife and I another year means we feel even more uncoordinated and wishing we had done from pre-season conditioning. But we are all together and enjoying a great morning out in the cold December air. It is amazing to make a series of turns, being in your own world then pulling up to the side of the trail and watching your kids come down following your tracks or setting their own, and you realize that it doesn’t get much better than this.

The day comes to an end as there are Christmas cookies to be made and pre-holiday cleaning to be done, so we head down from one last run. At the bottom we all look at each other with knowing grins as we realize another ski season has arrived. Now where did I put the car keys?

(published in the Mountain Ear on 12/18/2008)