The Beginnings of a Ski Buddy

After lunch, my daughter and I went back up the "magic carpets" to the top of the bunny slopes. She wanted to keep skiing! With me!


I went down diagonally and waited for her, like the instructor had. She came right down after me. We did this a few more times, and then the Pumpkin asked if we could go together. She said that is what she wanted--us to ski together. At the same time. (Like ski buddies!)


And so we did. I kept on the lower side of her, just in case. But she was doing great.


When we got to the end of a diagonal, we would stop facing the way we had come and slowly inch our skis around till we were facing the other way. But then, my daughter started turning at the end of the run so she was facing the other way once she stopped, ready to go on the next run.


I was very impressed, as she did this without me giving any instructions. I pointed it out to her. She said, "I just thought it would be easier to end facing the way we'd go next." Indeed it is! And I told her she had just naturally taken the next step in downhill skiing!


We made it to the bottom of the hill, with her getting better each run, and gaining in confidence. At the bottom, she looked at me with excitement and asked if we had time to go again. And we did! So we did!


My daughter and I skied down that bunny hill together! She was feeling so good about her skiing that she pointed out she was skiing faster than I was! I gave her a look and asked if she realized that I was going slower than her on purpose, and with chagrin she admitted she hadn't realized. I pointed out that although it had been a while since I skied, I was actually quite good and was only using the snowplow/pizza wedge method to stay with her. I think that gave her some insight into what would come next, and how much more she can learn, as she continues to learn to ski. Besides, I couldn't let her think she had already surpassed my skill in skiing! Confidence is good, but let's not overdo it!


When we reached the bottom, our time was up. We had had a fantastic time, and when we went into the lodge, she told my dad that it was "EPIC!" Epic! Hurray!


We are both looking forward to going skiing again, and my brother said he would love to go with us any time we were going. I foresee a lot of fun trips in our future! Unfortunately, this winter was so mild, we didn't have the opportunity to go again this winter. But I'm already starting to plan for next year...