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| Day 20-something for the kid this year. Thus, the proliferation of lift tickets. |
Spending most of my time this season on the bunny hill has been alternatively exhilarating and aggravating. Have you ever taught a 3-year-old to ski? Then you know. One day, it's a huge breakthrough and you jump up and down for joy and cry real tears. The next day (or even the next run), you stop every 5 minutes so your 3-year-old can throw herself face down in to the snow and throw an epic tantrum due to her thumb not being in the exact correct position in her mitten. Instead of crying joyous tears, you take a lot of deep breaths and reach for the flask of liquor in your coat pocket, only to find surprise! It's not there because you never drank on the slopes before. But now? Now, you REALLY, REALLY need that liquor.
I have spent a lot of time this season bemoaning the fact that none of the resorts on Mt. Hood offer group lessons for 3-year-olds. I strongly believe that parents should NOT be kids' ski instructors, but when you have a kid who is 1 year too young for lessons and you spend every weekend on the mountain, what else are you to do?
You spend a lot of time handing out "ski treats" (chocolate/candy/cookies), making up stories about princess ski racers, singing songs about pizza and french fries, lifting your kid on and off a chairlift and celebrating with Timberline Lodge's famous hot chocolate.
This all leads me to this: I have skied with my husband 6 days this season. I mean, REALLY skied. We have "skied" together 30+ days as a family. But we haven't hit the steeps or the side country together. And while I love spending the time as an entire family on the mountain, Barkernews is my first and favorite ski partner. There is nothing I love more than pointing my skis over the side of a steep run, following his melodious telemark turns through deep powder.
Then this happened: yesterday, Barkernews and I spent a glorious hour and a half skiing hard...together (thanks to the generosity of Uncle Ritchie). It. Was. AWESOME. I needed it. BAD. I had been feeling that the '11-'12 season, while hugely successful for the kid, was turning out kinda boring for me. I skied 10 times more when Hazel was an infant because it was easy to leave her in the lodge with friends and family. I haven't had a season this full of green runs since childhood.
It was a good reminder. I need the time on the slopes with my daughter. But I also need the time on the slopes with Barkernews. I need to ski hard and be adventurous and scare myself a little bit. I need to end a run with a huge grin on my face and look at him and know that that we just shared something special.
The season's not over yet. I am going to do everything I can to get my kid on the mountain. And then I am going to steal away with my husband and ski hard.
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| On the "Hazel Trail" aka West Leg Road at Timberline Lodge. |
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| I think this is me? If not, this is what yesterday in Heather Canyon looked like. Thanks to Allison for the picture. |
