Skiing with the Kids

I was 25 when I went on my first ski trip. I was living in NYC and joined a group of singles on a trip to Killington in Vermont. I liked it but was such a novice, however I felt exhilarated flying down the slopes.   I also loved the whole concept of sitting by a fire and drinking hot chocolate between trips up and down the mountain.  I also quite liked the whole ski culture, which is very international and has its own flavor.

Since I met dear hubby who has a passion for skiing, I’ve gotten more into the spirit of the sport and look forward to our annual trips. While we were dating, we skied down the slopes of Whistler (Vancouver), Mammoth (CA) and Park City (Utah). We actually went to Park City during Sundance and that may have been one of the best weeks of my life: MOVIES AND SKIING.  What more could you ask for?! And now my own kids have been skiing well before the age of 25!

When they were very young, we went back to Park City and also went to Late Tahoe (CA) for week-long trips where we put our oldest in ski school starting at the age of 3. She enjoyed herself but we never skied enough the rest of the seasons to give her continuity in the sport. She was also of the age where if her friend chose to skip the day of skiing, so would she.  She neither loved nor hated it.  We have friends in San Francisco we would meet for these annual trips and rent chalets with jacuzzis out back (selfishly so we adults could sit and drink champagne while our soar muscles would chill out after a day out).  Our kids would run around the house playing and catching up with their long-distance playmates.

This year dear hubby invested in rental skis for the season from Paragon Sports in White Plains for himself and my daughter. A few weeks ago, we all took a trip to Thunder Ridge Ski Resort near Pauling, NY which is an easy one-hour trip from our house. Little son who is only 5 was determined to join in on the fun and take a class.  Ski lifts cost about $50 per adult and $35 per child.  They also have a daycare for $10 an hour for very young kids. If they don’t have enough snow, they make it – enough to cover 100 acres.

At 1:30 or 2 the kids headed to their ski lessons which would take about 1-1/2 hours.  Hubby went to ski on his own and I went to sit in the waiting area to read my book.  I was reading “The Help” and didn’t want to put it down.  Dear daughter took to the sport right away and was transported to the ski lifts within the hour.  Dear son, who is a little twig, took to skiing like a house on fire.  He’s really good at ice-skating which seemed to train him for this.  At the end of his session, hubby took him up the lift and there was no stopping him.  He didn’t want the day to end.

So now we are a skiing family. Shame it’s such an expensive sport.  But when the kids reach the age of 25 or older, they will be able to make a lot of money and go as much as they want. They’ll be ski experts.