This last fall my husband and I decided we had to stop talking about how we were going to teach our girls to ski someday and actually plan a trip to the mountains and take them skiing. They weren't getting any younger, and as I mentioned in the previous post, time is going by so fast and they are only getting older. ( I suppose so are we.)
I pulled out the laptop and went to the same website we always go to when planning a vacation, VRBO. It proved successful again and we found a perfect little cabin in Greenwater that would work great for a weekend skiing at Crystal Mountain.
I probably should mention that it has been 7 years since Robb and I have been skiing and although we knew this to be true we didn't really evaluate what this would mean when we got onto the mountain. We headed out early on Friday morning straight to the mountain. Once there we got the girls registered and signed in to lessons and being the optimistic pair that we are, we headed straight for the summit. This was sure to be an adventure and I have to admit there was nothing that would have prepared me for the complete meltdown I would soon have.
Luckily for me and all the others on the lift, I remembered how to get on and off of the chair lift. This is where my memory on what I was doing pretty much came to a screaming halt. It was as if I was dropped off at the top of the mountain having never been skiing before. I was at a complete loss. I couldn't remember a thing and I started to freak out. I didn't know where to go but I had to make a decision, right or left, knowing that one way would take me safely to a blue run and the other way would take me to a not very happy double black diamond future. It was at this realization that I completely fell apart into a mess of blithering crying right there on the slope. It was right at this moment my cell phone rang. (I should also probably mention that by this time Robb had already headed down the mountain ahead of me and I was laying in the snow afraid to move any further for fear of what was ahead because I couldn't remember for the life of me what I was doing.)
So I was laying in the snow, a complete mess, and my phone began ringing. I pull myself together to answer it and who should it be but my dad who proceeds to ask me "what you up to?" At that I completely lost it again and he quite calmly demanded that I pull myself together. He reminded me that I am a great skier and I just need to point them down the hill in a pie and it will all come back to me. I don't know why but, after I calmed down, I believed him and stood back up and slowly began to head down the mountain. It wasn't but a couple hundred yards and I was already starting to remember what I was doing and feeling better. By the time we made it down the mountain Robb and I both agreed we were complete fools to try to go all the way to the Summit on the first run and needed to stick to the basics for a little while (at least the first day) until we felt comfortable on our skis again.
After we came to our senses and went back to the basics, the rest of the day went great. We picked the girls up from their lesson at the end of the day and all headed back to the condo. They had a fabulous day and were both moved up to the next level for the next day. All together it was a success and although we were all exhausted, we were already looking forward to the next day.
After three days on the mountain we all wanted to stay there and keep skiing. The girls moved up two more levels and Robb and I were finally comfortable again on our skis and thinking about the next time we would be able to get back up to the mountain. One thing for sure . . . . we will be coming up again soon.
