Sharing the slopes with your kids

Through no special magic, both my children were born in October which meant they would be put on skis the first winter following their first birthday. Now really, I'll be honest, it was more about getting them used to the snow and cold and not really about making turns, yet. It has given us all great pride to be able to claim their early introduction to skiing at the age of sixteen months. Now I have two grown children who love the alpine environment like I do...one is a snowboarder and the other a skier/snowboarder. It totally doesn't matter. I feel one of my greatest accomplishments of adulthood has been to pass my love of skiing onto my kids. It certainly wasn't easy or cheap but was worth every minute of dragging kids into ski school (can I just skip today and ski with you?) and packing up all the necessary gear (yes, it is true, I forgot my daughter's parka once and arrived at Ragged Mt in need of an immediate purchase). Now I ski with my kids as friends...for a little bit because they soon leave me in their snow dust. My daughter says I am "slow and steady and winning the race...meaning still skiing while many of my age-mates have stopped. My son, the eternal ski coach, continues to encourage me to ski like I'm on the World Cup tour. I am just content to ski. It's great when we ride the lift together and chat. It's also great when we have those side by side turns and then, they're off at a speed that matches their skill. As I watch them take off ahead of me, I smile, knowing I've done my job. I slice through my series of crafted turns, humming to myself and I see them waiting a few hundred feet ahead. I push harder to reach them and I am greeted "Good job, Mom, let's go..." and it's off again. Yes, I know I have done my job.