Our Kids First Ski Trip

      If you read some of my previous post you know that I enjoy snow skiing, I find it exhilarating and because of this I wanted my family to enjoy it as well.  Mimi (my wife) tolerates it but does not have the same enthusiasm that I have for the sport. 

     My kids were young and had not formed an opinion about the sport because they had not yet been exposed to it.  So I thought this was the perfect opportunity to take them on their first real ski trip out West to Colorado.  We have a small ski hill in Eureka, Missouri called Hidden Valley but it is no comparison the resorts in Colorado.  So I setup a family ski vacation to Copper Mountain in Colorado.  This resort is right off of Highway 70 and has everything you need without leaving the resort. 

     I decided that we would sign them up for Ski Wee school because it was the best way for them to learn.  Maureen was 5 ½ years old (½ years are important to little kids) and Patrick was 3 at the time, which was a perfect age to start learning to schuss down the mountain.  The Ski Wee school would teach them the basics of putting on the skis, falling, using the rope toe, and of course skiing. All this would be taught on the beginner hill with experienced instructors.   When I first learned to ski, I was taught the snowplough (snowplow) which is easy to learn but very tiring on your legs.  Mimi learned the same technique and although we both advanced beyond that it was always comforting to know you could use the snowplough to slow you down when you got in trouble.  

     We dropped the kids off for the first day of lessons at Ski Wee school and we headed over to do some skiing of our own without the kids.  They were in the morning session of the school so we went by to pick them up before we went to lunch and Maureen was sitting on a bench but Patrick was sprawled out sound asleep on a picnic table, totally exhausted.  We spent the rest of the day checking out the town after we ate lunch.  It was a fun afternoon and that evening (we brought our swimming suits) we decided to use the Jacuzzi at the condo, which we thought would be fun and relaxing.  

     The kids were excited as we headed to the Jacuzzi.  The water was nice and warm, not too hot as we jumped in but when I turned on the jets, Maureen freaked out and started screaming.  I quickly pulled her out of the water and turned off the jets but she kept saying she didn't like the Zucchini.  We tried not to laugh but it was a little funny.  I don't know if it was the sound of the jets or the rushing water that scared her but she was done with the Zucchini (Jacuzzi) for the night.  We couldn't get her to put her toes in the water even with the jets off; well we can try another day.

     The next day we took them back to ski school for their final lesson and again picked them up before lunch.  We spent the afternoon doing things the kids wanted to do, pizza, games and a movie.  That night we tried the Jacuzzi again, Maureen got a little more comfortable but we did not turn on the jets. 

     The last two days we skied with the kids which lots fun but hard on my legs.  I took Pat and he was too little to go down by himself so he skied between my legs while I snowplowed.  My calves and thighs were screaming from the pain.  Sometimes I would turn around and snowplough backwards in front of Pat but that was even more difficult.  It was a fun experience watching the kids learned to ski and we have been on many ski trips since then. So I guess you could say I was successful in introducing them to skiing plus learning the Jacuzzi was scary for a 5 ½ year old and 3 year can sleep anywhere.