When it’s cold and snowy and the days are short, it can be challenging to get the boys adequate outdoor physical activity. They can drive us crazy, literally bouncing against the physical confines of the house and figuratively bouncing against Karen and my psyches…
If you’re in a place where it’s possible, skiing can mitigate the winter inaction. We are fortunate to live with Pajarito ski hill only fifteen minutes away. Last year I bought a ski pass and never used it because it didn’t snow last winter—so it can be a bit of a gamble. But this year it has been DUMPING. Beautiful piles of snow everywhere, and the boys (and I) have been appropriately excited about it.
Four years ago, when Bodie was three, I took him to Pajarito to teach him to ski. It was an exercise in patience and parental suffering, and was not particularly productive. When they’re too young, they’re just dead weight that you carry down the mountain between your legs. I tried again at age 4, with similar results. Finally, at age 5, it started working out—Bodie could go down the mountain by himself with tip-ties (crucial teaching gear, in my opinion) .
It was the same with Jasper—he’s five now, and this is the first season that it’s truly working out for him. I suspect the same will be true with Emerson. Sure, you can be a super-parent and take your kids when they’re two—but you’ll have to expend ten times the effort for one-tenth the benefit. Age five has been the best starting age for my boys at least.
Bodie is now 7 and Jasper 5, and yesterday they rode the lift together, getting on and off by themselves. As I rode in the chair behind them, watching them talk and joke with each other, it was a special emotional moment for me.
Some photos of taking the boys skiing through the years:
It’s important to me for my boys to feel comfortable outdoors—in all seasons and all weather. Skiing at the local hill in the winter is the best way I can think of to develop their love of the snow and the cold. I concentrate of making it enjoyable and avoid pushing them too hard. I express my own excitement. I play “ski-porn” videos at home in the lead-up to the ski season. (In the video I linked to, the boys and I liked the song so I downloaded it and the boys call it the “ski song” and we listen to it every time we drive up to ski.) I take them to the local showings of the Banff film festival and the Wilderness Wildlands Alliance backcountry film festival (which is coming to our small local theater in a week–very excited—check out the trailer).
I try very hard to handle the more tedious aspects of the experience, at least in these early years. For example, I carry their skis and their ski boots on the long walk from the parking lot, so that they are free to walk in their snow boots to the lodge where we get changed (this is no easy feat with three pairs of skis—I use bungee ball doohickies to wrap them up, and carry a backpack with all the other gear). I bring candy and snacks and Capri Suns for the lodge to sweeten the experience. I keep hand warmers ready for the mittens on cold days. In another year or two they won’t need that extra boost, that extra incentive, but for now I don’t want them to associate skiing with being cold and uncomfortable.
In truth, I am not a very good skier myself. I can snowboard, but I would characterize my skiing as intermediate at best. Hopefully I can change that in the next two years–that’s probably how long I have until the boys leave me behind, if I can’t up my game. Point is, you don’t have to be a hardcore skier to develop a love for skiing in your kids.
My long-term plan is to prepare them for backcountry ski adventures. I have fond memories of ski touring to 10th mountain division huts with a group of good friends, and I would like to share that experience with my boys eventually. First we learn to ski, then we start skinning up the ski hill before dawn on powder mornings, then we ski tour to yurts and huts.
In my opinion, winter sports are a crucial part of living the mountain life, and skiing is an activity at which kids can thrive.
