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Today was my almost 5 year old daughter's first day out of the season. I started her last year at 3 years old. She got roughly 8 days in, but she didn't make a ton of progress until her final day. She spent most of the season on the Magic Carpet which gave us about 20 feet of flat vertical. I negotiated with her all season and finally got her to ride the little double chair which services Sundown's learning area on that final day last season. I got her down the trail a few times using an Edgie Wedgie tip lock and skiing in front of her backwards with a ski pole hooked under the tip lock to control her speed (idea courtesy of JimG.). Finishing off last season with a few rides on the chair was a major accomplishment for her and I felt satisfied with last year's effort.
I went into this season with the same concept in mind. My pretty low expectations for today were completely shattered. When we arrived, I noticed the magic carpet was running and asked her if she wanted to try that first. She says, "Nope! Chairlift!" Can't argue with that so we head right for it and she cruises right on it with me like she's done it a hundred times. We take four runs using the same approach as last year. Things are going fine. I would release my pole from the tip lock towards the flat section at the bottom and let her ride it out. We eventually decided to do our customary snack break.
She chows through her cookies and says, "let go back out skiing." Ain't going to argue with that one either. Back on the lift. Up to the top and we head down. I notice she's barely putting any pressure on my pole with the tip lock so I release it and she skis the entire length of the trail with me in front of her only checking her speed from time to time. Big smiles and thumbs up back and forth to each other the whole way. Another run with less speed checking. Next run almost totally on her own! So I grab my other pole and we head back up and proceed to take first "independent" ski run together! We skied a total of 2 1/2 hours together on a relatively cold afternoon. I am simply thrilled. She couldn't stop talking about the day on the ride home.
Powder days are awesome. As you all know, I love skiing bumps. But THIS is what it's all about:
Sincerely,
Happy Dad! :-D
I went into this season with the same concept in mind. My pretty low expectations for today were completely shattered. When we arrived, I noticed the magic carpet was running and asked her if she wanted to try that first. She says, "Nope! Chairlift!" Can't argue with that so we head right for it and she cruises right on it with me like she's done it a hundred times. We take four runs using the same approach as last year. Things are going fine. I would release my pole from the tip lock towards the flat section at the bottom and let her ride it out. We eventually decided to do our customary snack break.
She chows through her cookies and says, "let go back out skiing." Ain't going to argue with that one either. Back on the lift. Up to the top and we head down. I notice she's barely putting any pressure on my pole with the tip lock so I release it and she skis the entire length of the trail with me in front of her only checking her speed from time to time. Big smiles and thumbs up back and forth to each other the whole way. Another run with less speed checking. Next run almost totally on her own! So I grab my other pole and we head back up and proceed to take first "independent" ski run together! We skied a total of 2 1/2 hours together on a relatively cold afternoon. I am simply thrilled. She couldn't stop talking about the day on the ride home.
Powder days are awesome. As you all know, I love skiing bumps. But THIS is what it's all about:
Sincerely,
Happy Dad! :-D
