For the Love of Skiing

It would be impossible for me or Peter to imagine having a child that didn't love to ski.  It has been a large part of both our lives for a long, long, long time - before we really even remember.    But let me tell you, even with these high expectations, it is impossible to describe the pure joy we have watching our little gal LOVE the mountains, the snow, the feel of a slope beneath her feet, the FUN of playing in the snow with us and her friends.  It is just awesome!  

At 2.5 years old, it is her favorite thing to do!  The sound of her squeals and shrieks and "can I go down one more time?" is music to our ears!  We have been about 5 or 6 weekends this winter and plan on being up at Bridger Bowl until the snow is gone.  She LOVES it.  We are excited to see what each new season brings as she just gets better, stronger, more confident, and more free to ski with her own style!  She has graduated past the little bunny lift and now skis on legitimate "green" runs on Virginia City and Powder Park!

Check out these videos of her skiing this weekend.  We are quite the sight to behold right now.  The little tyke shredding it up on the mountain, the harness, the 8-month pregnant whale of a mother wearing her husbands oversized clothes, poor Peter trying to "pizza wedge" at a near snails pace behind Matine and not run her over... It's a WHOLE lot of effort and gear to lug around for a day, but all worth it as soon as we see her big grin take over her face.

I am trying all my old ski instructor tricks to get her to turn her skis across the hill, keep her hands in front of her, look up, and try to slow down on her own.  MOST are working.  Her favorite game yesterday was "Polar Bear rescuer" where we were looking for lost baby Polar Bears in the "forest/trees" and she would ski from side to side to look in the woods to find polar bears that needed to be reunited with their mamas.  It was all she would talk about and eventually we had snow balls that were Polar Bears (of course) that we had to transport down the hill and back to their mamas in their caves.  She loved it and was VERY determined to find them and "save them."  She is so freaking sweet I can't stand it!  She even wanted to take her snowball Polar bears some hot cocoa when we took a small break.

The new set up... harness and BIG hill... NO more bunny slopes for this kid. 

Loving Powder Park lift with Mom and Dad 

You can't say it was a great day until you produce "helmet hair" like this!