I should have assumed that the girl with a collection of playground shin-bruises and a terrifyingly underdeveloped fear of falling would catch onto barreling straight down a hill. I should also have assumed, for those same reasons, the finer points of skiing would be lost on her.
There’s no feeling like discovering something your kid totally loves. We had planned a series of activities to ease Augustine into the idea of skiing, and it was snow tubing that lit her face up with the loopy smile of a dog on Benadryl. The speed, the bumps, the light snow flurries were apparently exactly what our daughter wanted most in life, which Jade and I took as a good sign for skiing.
This was all part of a plan – to deemphasize skiing and work on creating a great winter-mountain-experience. There’s no way for us to tell how Augustine will react to things, but, at three, her memories are pliable. More than just a great ski trip, Jade and I were after an overall experience that would get Augustine excited about returning to the mountain again. We needed to create a general-innate since of joy for ski-trips that would last in Augustine’s mind once the specific were forgotten.
Sure that’s what we agreed on, but, in my heart, I wanted so much more.
For months leading up to our Silver Mountain, Idaho trip I had waffled between a roiling-boil-of-excitement and clammy-palms-panic. I want so many things for Augustine, but I wanted her to like skiing for me. I want a ski buddy for the big hills, and as soon as this trip got put on the calendar the countdown on my primal-parental-yearning.
For both our agreed upon reasons and my own personal ski-buddy reason, tubing was the point where we let ourselves get excited. Really excited, like – let’s get her skis today excited – but that was outside the plan so we continued on, reinforcing the positive-experience angle with a lengthy trip to the resorts waterpark – which again brought out her loose-lipped-dopey-doggy-smile.
The ‘Mo’ was in our favor when we woke up on Ski Day.
It’s impossible not to compare our morning gondola ride, the 2nd longest gondola ride in the world at 16.4 minutes, to Small Foot. Silver Mountain Resort is down below the mountain in a whole different climate so on our journey up the mountain we passed through the cloud layer, which hid the evergreen forest, and into a winter wonderland. Actually, the comparison was a conscious choice for us. All the way up we used the music and the possibility of seeing a Big Foot to get Augustine’s excitement up for her first day on skis.
*Side Note: Kids skis are magical in the fact that they are packed so full of potential and still so tiny.
Augustine was not immediately ready for skiing. Eventually she got in a couple of runs by holding both the instructor’s and my hand. Which was enough for the instructor to teach her how to ski by herself across ten/twenty feet and into my arms. Which to a toddler- that’s a long way! It was then that she smiled, when she could ski straight and fast and recklessly down the hill.
Of course, there’s more to skiing than going straight, and all the other parts, the finesse of skiing, Augustine was less enthusiastic about. The good news was the instructor seemed to have an endless supply of new solutions and options for Augustine to could try, and, most importantly, he was understanding and empathetic. The lesson really was tailored just to her and never discouraging.
Alternating between Augustine’s skiing and ‘resting’, Jade and I had time to take in the atmosphere around us. At first I was only able to focus on the one or two other toddlers who were really getting the hang of skiing, but once I swallowed my jealousy I was able to notice all the older people also taking their first ride on skis. One man, who had to be at least Seventy-years-old was pizza-pie-ing towards his instructor even though he had the expression of someone who had just seen an alligator in their bathtub. Another one had just returned to the run with an instructor after having decided he couldn’t teach himself and was actually laughing as he went – though the laugh did come through clenched teeth.
On our sixth and last run, I had to carry Augustine the final twenty yards. (to be completely honest, carrying her in my arms as I skied felt like I was living inside of a Normal Rockwell/Cambell Soup moment). She was done, and only wanted the snow tube and the water park. Which was a win – she was over skiing that day but not over the snow, not over the trip.
Skiing may or may not be Augustine’s ‘thing’. I was really hoping that she’d be one of those kids that popped on her skis and took off but she wasn’t, which is fine and possibly the exact same as if she had been some kind of natural-ski-wizzard.
Even if all my dreams came true and Augustine ended up skiing between my legs singing ‘Skidamarink-a-dink-a-dink’, there’s no guarantee that she would want to hit the slopes again months later. What matters is that the vacation-as-a-whole is so exciting that when our trip’s specifics are forgotten – the feeling of being at a ski resort is innately positive for her. Which makes the biggest win the fact that Augustine enjoyed Silver Mountain so much that she wants to go back.
Tips for Parents Taking Toddlers to Their First Ski Lesson :
Tiny Gloves are Very Complicated – We tried less expensive Target gloves and more expensive REI gloves, both were impossible to keep on Augustine’s hands. After talking to some of the other parents on the slopes, a pair of Columbia gloves was recommended that unzip to let you put your kids hand in and have an internal ‘cinch-er’ that then the outer gloves zips over.
Bring Snacks – At least for us, after a few runs – Augustine wanted food and the time it took to run and get chips from the canteen was enough time for Augustine to change her mind. Pack some snacks and make sure your kids are full when you take them to the lesson.
Think About Your Kid’s Eccentricities – For us it was two things, Augustine is a copy-cat and she milks her separation anxiety.
Copy-Cat : We did a private lesson for Augustine, but looking back, she really enjoys following the lead of the kids around her. For our next lesson, we’ll probably lean towards a group class to let Augustine ski with ‘friends’ and use the group to summon up all her courage.
Letting Go : Every time we take Augustine to preschool, she’s fine once we leave. Being her first ski lesson, we hung around for pictures and video and – you know – because we were too excited to leave. Had we left, Augustine might have settled into following the instructor word-for-word. Next time, we’re dropping her off and running away.
Sponsored by Visit Idaho.
