The first hurdle to negotiate was the timing about how exactly long it’s going to take to get everyone into their ski gear, how much they will do for themselves and how much the phrase ‘can you help me’ gets used. Being the first day it predictably took a long time.
The plan to let them have a bit of a go before the ski school assessment went out the window but the boys ended up in a class together.
Meanwhile, Amy and I went exploring. The weather today has been spectacular. Definitely spring like conditions on the snow with the clear blue skies and necessity to smear yourself in suncream.
The border here is so close that we popped to France for a coffee and them made the short ski back to Italy. Both Amy and I quickly shook the skiing rust off and were cruising the blue slopes at increasing speed. When we progressed to reds we were both comfortably with the difficulty level and neither of us have hit the deck…. yet…. Callan was a different story but I’ll get to that.
We picked the boys up and immediately headed for lunch. They’d had a good morning and were both full of the fun of skiing but had now hit the wall. Harrison was asking to go straight back to the hotel with mild agreement from Callan.
Amy spent an hour queuing for hotdog and chips for the boys who had ‘forgotten’ their packed lunch. A combination of 3 different queues and either a computer system not working properly or some kind of European organisation known to only them meant it was organised chaos. That being said, hotdog and chips was like switching a light back on.
We all went off in the afternoon after everyone was connected to the new ski intercom. The radios were excellent and have exceeded both Amy’s and my expectations. It means you can shout, STOOOOOOOP!!!! without destroying your voice.
After a few runs the pace of the day and hour long hot dog queue meant Amy was ready to go back to the hotel. The hotdog refuel was still working so the boys and I carried on. It was on the easiest run with a right hand bend on the approach to a lift that Callan wiped out.
I was alerted by the radio call from Harrison telling me what had happened. So the radio’s worked really well then….
After a quick cry and regathering our skis, off we went with a little more skiing. I was under constant pressure to ski quicker by two voices crackling in my ear asking for more speed. Their ability has really been maintained and even improved to the point where I was accelerating, glancing behind and expecting to see them in my wake but no, the pressure was still on.
We finished the day exhausted but invigorated. The boys now understand that lessons are about improving technique and the fun and long runs can be had with Mummy and Daddy in the afternoon.
The weather forecast is for snow or even sleet at lower levels for the next two days but still really looking forward to tomorrow.
I now need to sleep…..
Leave a Reply