First time skiers...

Steve was asked to go up skiing for the day with the youth from our church. We've been wanting to let the kids try skiing so Steve invited his dad (who is the best ski teacher out there) to join in on the fun. When I told Hallie she was going skiing she was jumping up and down with excitement. Hopefully her last brief incident with snow won't be an indicator of her liking the sport!

I stayed back with the two littles and threatened Steve with his life if he didn't document the day like I would have. He passed with flying colors and I got pictures and videos throughout the day!




Because our kids had never been skiing, Steve prepped them by telling them it was going to be a little hard for them, probably frustrating and depending on the falls, it could be painful. But he assured them that if they stuck with it they would be surprised with their improvement by the end of the day. Good things in life are often hard and have to be worked for. Skiing was no different but with some practice they would be skiing with cousins in no time! Even with fair warning, the kids were eager to jump on the skis!

The morning was a little long and quite the learning process. They couldn't go 10 feet without falling. They struggled. They would get tangled in their skis. There were cries of frustration and maybe a couple tantrums banging their fists into the snow. Everything to be expected.


But they didn't give up and they kept at it. They improved significantly in the first three hours of the day. So much so that before lunch they were able to take a chairlift ride. Every time they got in line they had to grab a snowball and start eating it - it became their thing. The chair lift, although a little harder and pushed them considerably, had some incentive. They got to rest their legs for a short while and take part in the Pothier lift tradition of a fun-size snickers bar.




The hill took some work and by the end they were ready for some lunch.

Steve and his dad thought maybe the kids would be done after lunch and planned on taking a few runs together. Much to their surprise, they kids didn't want a break. They were ready for more practice and instruction. So they went back out and something clicked.



They were spending less time on the ground, they were skiing with more control and they were enjoying it. Steve and his dad were enjoying it. They were gaining confidence and they didn't stop. They skied until the lifts shut down.

They took Steve's morning advice and words of warning to heart and they proved him right. They were leaps and bounds better for sticking it out the whole day, falls and all.


They had a great time. All of them. Even with all the hard and hurt that came with it, not one of them had anything negative to say about the day. It was a fun day for them and having Steve's dad there as their teacher was the icing on the cake.