We are off to a great start this ski season. You are bombing down the hill and chasing down anyone you know, friends your age and adults alike.
We got a good early season snowpack and skied at Crystal Mountain right after Thanksgiving. The first morning, you were hesitant being on new, longer skis and didn’t have confidence. We left some friends go to ski on their own so we could refocus on our form and speed. By that afternoon, you were back where you left off last season. That happens to most of us. We have such long breaks between seasons that we need to get our legs fit again and remember good technique. You’re not alone!
After a few more days at Crystal Mountain, we went to Whistler before Christmas and you were able to ski everywhere. Mom and I have to really work to keep up! We skied a day with our friends Joe and Kim and their children around your age. That family skis a lot more than we do and spend weeks at Whistler, but you were able to keep up on the terrain, no problem. The more you pushed it the more you seemed to have fun and expressed yourself with hoots and hollers as you popped off small jumps and ripped through the trees off piste.
Back at Crystal Mountain, you and Eliza are insistent on skiing the Magoos run as much as possible. There’s a nice kicker before the chair lift — hence a persistent audience — and you two like to fly off the jump to occassional applause from above.
You brag back on the chair lift to Eliza: “That was a three-footer!” alluding to how much vertical air you got. Like most of us, you double the actual airtime because it feels so big. I don’t go much bigger, to be clear.
Mom and I convince you to ski more of the mountain, so we’ll scoot around the tree hits off of the infamous Queen’s Run and around Lucky Shot. We fuel you on gummy worms while we wait for the next chair at the bottom of the runs.Y
ou know there’s more to ski and asked me if you could ski Powder Bowl this season, which is off the higher and most technical Chair 6. In the right conditions, you’ll be ready soon enough. For now, enjoy the bumps and kickers and keep working on those parallel turns.
Love,
Dad