Briton's Skiing Debut

I had planned to take the children skiing this winter, but we have had so little snow that I thought I might have lost my chances! Well, as it turned out I was wrong. Though we have little snow, the mountain had beautiful conditions.

Heading Out

I knew that I couldn't take more than one learning skiier at a time, as it would be incredibly hard. The funny thing is a friend suggested that Ray go with me and we could take all four younger ones. I knew it wouldn't work, and am I glad I only took one because it was exhausting!


When Cooper was five years old Ray took him for the first time. I took him the following year two times and he did very well. He was up on the chairlift with me the first day, and he was very confident.

Taking a child to the mountain for a full day of skiing is a challenge. You better know the personality of your child before you agree to doing this! You might get stuck up on a mountain with a frightened child, or one who just doesn't like it. Keeping this in mind, I decided to take Briton as my new student this year. I knew that Raine was very timid when it came to adventurous things, and as far as Savannah goes, I really had no clue. She seems to be a bit of a tomboy, but I wasn't sure.

We headed out bright and early with the plan to meet some other friends and ski with them. Well, those planned lasted all of a phone call! When we got to the hill I got the kids all suited up in their ski gear.


We then headed to the bunny hill. The plan was for me to work with Briton, while Dane took two runs, and then we would switch. I would do two runs and Dane would work with Briton. Cassidy would take the next turn by helping me with Briton. I figured in this way we could all have some fun and by lunchtime we would have him on the chairlift. There is nothing like learning to ski ON the mountain, rather than on the bunny hill!


Cooper did the bunnyhill with us for a while, until our friends arrived. At this time, I sent him off with one of the mums as his chaperone. Last year, he did pretty good, but he was still a very new skier. I trusted this mum and didn't work about him in the least. I figured I would be out with him in no time and would get to see him at work.

Well, it didn't turn out that way. Briton took longer to learn than I thought, and there was some 'miscommunication' with one of the older boys, so I didn't actually get a run in til the afternoon.

By listening to the ski school instructors (I was not in a class), I was able to discern some key words in teaching a small child. Words that would work wonders when I was yelling it down the hill at him as he skied off into the sunset! "Pizza" means do a snowplow, "French Fries" are what they do when they take small, sideways steps to get up a hill, "Lean Forward" was something that became very important because he tended to lean backwards and then land on his little butt. He also learned to sit on a "motorcycle" when he was skiing, so that he kept the position where his hands were near his knees, and his bottom was pushed out behind.

So there we were - til lunchtime. By then I was burned out. Man, do you know hard it is to instruct a skier when they are not much taller than 2'!? Every muscle in my body was aching! Finally, Cassidy and I decided to take the munchkin up the mountain. I had to get some skiing in, and I figured, based on what the lifties had told me, there was no better way to learn to ski than on the actual mountain. I had done this with Colt when he was four years old. That boy was a dynamo! On his first day on the mountain he could beat me down the hill! So full of confidence!

Briton was a little nervous (minorly), but full of excitement at going up the 'big hill'. We hoisted him on the chairlift and kept him firmly in place. He was a little pro. He was so cooperative! I have noticed something new about him with puzzles and now skiing. That boy has determination. Dedication and a will to continue until he gets it.

Briton's coat looks a little big because it is! He left his coat at gymnastics last week and so he had to borrow Cooper's coat. He felt a little embarrassed at first cause he said, "People will laugh. Big!"


We got off the chairlift and headed for a green run. He was still at the stage of 'Sit down when I get scared,' so it took us a while to get going. Around the corner from the top it turns into a bit of a steep looking area. He had no clue that it was okay, and he would not die. *grin* SO he did a lot of this on the first hill...

I guess he figured it was safer than trying to go down on two sticks. I have no clue why! lol The first time down the hill was excrutiating. Slow! I had to keep picking him up and putting him back on his skies and then send him off again. As I launched him, I would call out to him, and then as he got farther from me, yell down to him, "PIZZA!!! PIZZA!!! LEAN FORWARD! PIZZA!! TURN!! TURN!" I could see him heading down the hill with 'French Fries' and knew he would be in the forest if he didn't turn them into 'Pizzas'! lol!

But that is one smart little boy. I told him ONCE how to turn - simply lean the way you want to go. I am so pleased to say he mastered that one immediately! He was whipping down the hill and turning, and I had a hard time keeping up with him. It must be the tiny size. Well, Cassidy would try to be his saver and would stand about 100 feet in front of him, but I guess that unnerved him because everytime he got close to Cassidy he would throw himself down to stop. In this manner, we got down the mountain in nearly *an hour*. It should take about 15 minutes! LOL!!

But this tough little cookie was so adorable in his determination. I told him we would get a burger if he worked hard. He couldn't less about anything else but his 'bohgah'. After he crashed and he got up again, he would say in a worried tone, "Me bohgah?" And I would reassure him that as long as he tried he would get his burger.

My Trusty Helper

Once we got down the mountain we stopped for lunch. As the lodge neared I began yelling down to Briton, "Pizza!" I could just see him crashing into the skies on the stands, or maybe the building. As it turned out, I needn't have worried about Briton, because he knew how to stop. On his back.

Full Control!

I finally met up with one of my children when I got to the lodge. Cooper had had some lunch with our friends, but being the child that he is, he came back for another lunch with me when I arrived.

After lunch we headed out again. My mistake. Whereas before lunch Briton was full of energy, after lunch he was tired. He normally naps at home, and it was now nearly 2:00 pm. He had spent about 2 hours in the morning on the bunny hill, working so incredibly hard, and then he did a run on the big hill - even harder. On that hill there was only one set of tears. The rest of the time, when I would call his attention to talk to him, he would get this look of intense concentration, stare right into my eyes, and then say, "Yes, mum," and head off to try again.

But now, after lunchtime, he was tired. But nevertheless, he did an incredible job. We made it down the hill in half the time of the previous run, and he fell much less.


He did have tears more though, and so we decided to call it at day after that run.

Teary Little Face - Feeling the Workout!

Honestly, Briton loved skiing and can't wait to go back on Monday. He will get taught this year, and then next year, I will teach the next two. There is no way that I can start from scratch teaching a new child this year. I have made headway with this one, and I am hoping that when next season rolls around he will be on his feet and on his own, and then I will put the two girls in ski school together, and then I will work with them also, and soon we will all be skiing as a family.

By the way, Cooper was fantastic. By lunchtime, my friend told me that Cooper was ready to ski with the big kids without an adult present. I saw evidence of this when we four (Cooper, Cassidy, Briton, and I) went up the chairlift together. I turned around as I got off, remembering Cooper's difficulty last year in getting off the chair, and saw him effortlessly and independently ski off the lift and head out to the hill.

Cassidy tells me that Cooper spent most of the day on the Intermediate hills (the blue hills)!!
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