Nickname compliments of Natalie
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Another Year of "Firsts"
Sydney had her own cell phone this year and could be seen texting friends while at the condo. Wayne had his with him as well (his 5th, he tells me) but mostly he called Rob and his Mom. Natalie came equipped with a laptop of her own for the first time, all of which makes Rob shake his head and mutter "too much technology". As I pointed out in a previous post, this was also the first year that all the kids made it to the top, and the first year that one of them skied solo. I guess every year is a year of firsts, there's just no stopping it. Before long: First "Teenager" on the trip (gulp).
I never get tired of watching the snow fall. Natalie and I were talking about how relaxing it is, akin to watching logs burn in a fireplace. Watching it fall from the vantage point of a nice warm condo is guaranteed to make you drift off, something you probably wouldn't want to do on a chairlift anyway.
Whatever is She Looking At?
On the Gondola Ride to Canyon, probably something the boys were doing...
Back To the Same Old Grind...
A bit long, the reward at the very end. I know there's a lot of Nick here but that's because he was stuck with me and I always had the camera. Oh, and if you think the video is long, try downloading it sometime...
Going Solo
Wayne got the chance to ski alone this time, within certain boundaries. That is to say: geographical boundaries, such as staying within the slopes served by the Eagle lift. If problems arose he could always call Rob but he did well by himself. Later he went with Nick and I on our boarding expedition (see below) but became literally bored waiting for us. Don't blame him.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Taking a Lesson from the Chairman of the Board
Parenting 101: If you promise them something, deliver. My promise was to go snowboarding with Nick, and that's what I did today. It's something that I've been meaning to get around to anyway but having an eight year old around to constantly remind me made it inevitable. I checked out a lesson that we could take together and found it to be a bit pricey for my taste. Group lessons would separate us, entirely missing the Parental Promise Point. Besides, he's had lots of lessons and needed a free boarding day. The only thing left was to take a lesson from an eight year old, which struck me as a fine idea.
Turns out that Nick was up to the task, he just had an awful student. Wait a minute, that assessment may be too harsh. I've never met anyone who was good at snowboarding (or anything worth doing) on the first try. My issues were compounded by heavy snowfall and accumulations of heavy, heavy snow. You know the kind: Great for snowballs but basically weighing in at about two pounds per cubic centimeter. The good news: It softens your falls. It also, however, makes this whole "turning" thing something of an asterisk when you throw a rookie into it. I also found that it makes a person almost impossibly wet when you wear a coating of it for the better part of six hours.
And wear it you must, because time spent in the vertical position will be at a premium. No, I never fell off, at, or near a lift. After approximately f...well, let’s just say "several years" of skiing, I'm pretty lift savvy and have the common sense and willpower to keep it together with that many people around. For me the problem was in the general transportation realm, as in getting from point A to Point B... Alive.
Or reasonably intact, and that concept led me to another epiphany, one that has to do with why easy tasks become almost impossible when tackled by someone with a retarded skillset. Under those conditions, “Hansel & Gretel” becomes the moral equivalent to “Hangman's Hollow” on a glare ice day. Why was this easy slope suddenly trying to kill me? Like skiing, just when you think you have it down, cruising at a decent pace, carving a few turns, WHAM! You find yourself slammed into the slope at whiplash velocity, forward or backward. Both feel like someone has taken a baseball bat to the striking surface, in my case either my chest or the back of my head (and yes I wore a helmet; If I hadn’t, this entry would read thus: “5v874ytnwvbsnyv:-):-}:-):-))”, given that I could even remember how to start the computer). I’ve never had the wind knocked out of me that many times or that badly. The only way to describe it is to say that it’s like being hit by a soft car. I was reminded of Rob’s experience snowboarding, when he fell and bruised his ribs on the whisky bottle in his vest pocket. Now I know why he was carrying whisky in the first place. By the way, Rob has promised - and you’re reading it here first - that he and I will take a snowboarding lesson next year with whomever else wants to go, a promise that I have every intention of holding him to.
So gross incompetence turns out to be very hard work. Brutally hard at times, such as when one is stuck in a tree well and has to “hop” their way out. Thirty or forty hops later and it’s mission accomplished, although now too exhausted to ride or even walk. Not long after freeing myself, I caught up with Nick at the end of the day, at the bottom of our last run together. We were fifty yards or so from the base of 7 and we both assumed the Snowboarder’s Position, butts in the snow, watching the world go by before heading in for the day. I was spent, wet, and sore, almost beyond comprehension. I wasn’t even sure that I had the last fifty yards in me.
I said: “I get what you mean about turning on the front part of the board”
“I could tell.”
Then silence for a minute;
“I think I’ve improved a lot, don’t you?”
“Yeah Dad, you did great”.
More silence, watching the people go by, then simply:
“I love you Dad”
All better. And I’ll be boarding for a bit next time too. No sense in wasting all those new skills.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
A New Hot Tub
Sydney discovered a new hot tub on a balcony off the gym directly below us (thanks Syd!)This is a short and rather pointless video of hot tub action Thursday night.
How many of these have I taken?
Poor Nick was stuck with me. Lucky thing he likes to have his picture taken...Pals
This was the first year they wanted to ditch the parents & ski alone (together). Sydney and Natalie have this great friendship that transcends lack of seeing each other on a regular basis and the fact that they are very different people. One thing that they have very much in common is their love for The Ski Trip; A time to get away, out in the frigid air, skiing together and just hanging out. In too short a time our direction to them will be something like: "Meet at Canyon Lodge, four PM". Freedom for them, bittersweet day for us. In the meantime, we still get to intrude on their friendship from a distance.
Da Bear
Sometimes lift operators are good photographers and sometimes they're not. The effort is always appreciated. In any case, the "Bear Shot" is obligatory.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
More from the top
Rob
Sydney and Savanna
The gang, from L. Wayne, Nick, Natalie, Sydney & Savanna
Natalie and Nick
Natalie and SydneyEveryone at the Top!
Hard to believe, but this is the first time that the whole group has been on the summit at the same time. Somebody always seems to be sick or broken or just not present for some reason. The last time we took a group photo up here we stood under this sign, so the base is a lot higher. The kids were awesome, everyone did very well.Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nick's Class
Ran into Nick's boarding class on lower 4. Cute little bunch; Stopped just long enough to get the shot.
So where are all the kid pictures, you ask? Patience. We always have them in ski school for the first couple of days so frankly I have no idea what they're doing. They could be skiing the Cornice or in the lodge watching Sponge Bob for all we know. The important thing is that they are in the capable hands of a highly qualified, almost-adult ski/board instructor. Tomorrow the whole group goes to the top, but today was R & R for the big people. In the above photo you see four happy adults.Photo credit goes to an upper lift operator just slightly older than my son.Tuesday, February 3 2009
The group has decided that no matter what happens, "It's Joe's fault". That makes the whole process a lot easier because no time is wasted finger pointing or arguing about "who-caused-what" or "who-ditched-whom." Joe did it, now lets all move on...In the above example, Upper Dry Creek is now referred to as "Upper Joe's Fault" or alternately "Thanks for the rocks, Joe". See how it works? So if a waiter is rude to you at dinner, hang it on Joe. Can't find your gloves? Straight to Joe's jacket. All the wrong pictures on the blog?...Well, ok, that is my fault, but you get the trend. I'm happy to shoulder the burden, no problem, but just for the record: Rocks are there to ski around...
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