The girls started on the magic carpet and were obviously a little hesitant but that quickly changed. While Camille was working with Cambrie, I was working with McKenzie. By run three McKenzie was daring enough to want me to let go of her while she was moving. I maneauvered in front of her, skiied backwards, and would let her ski by herself for about six feet before I would grab her to slow her down. We would repeat that the whole way down the bunny hill. She laughed the whole way down and thought it was the most fun thing she had ever done. At the bottom of the hill she would step onto the magic carpet by herself and insist on getting off by herself at the top. Miraculously she only tiped over once on the carpet and never crashed while getting off.
Cambrie had a few practice runs with Camille on the magic carpet at the same time McKenzie and I were there. From what I could tell she was a little tentative to begin with but was soon moving by herself down the hill. She slowly learned how to keep her skis in a wedge and began making wide turns across the hill. After a couple of great lessons with ski instructor Camille I went over to ski with her. We played follow the leader and she did a wonderful job following me and staying in control.
Once it was time for lunch we decided to take a quick run up Little Beav to avoid hiking back up to the lodge. Both girls were pretty excited about riding on the big lift but didn't like waiting in the line. By the time we got to the top McKenzie was tired and hungry so I just put her between my legs and we cruised down the hill. Cambrie spent the time getting better and becoming even more confident. At the bottom of the run I could hear Mom calling out "dolphin" and Cambrie would swerve to the left, and "duck" and Cambrie would swerve to the right playing the silly game.
In the lodge we met up with Ryan and his friend, Maddi, and feasted on sandwiches and hot cocoa. There was just enough sugar in the meal that the girls were totally wired and ready to get out again. I was so surprised. I expected McKenzie to make it a couple of runs on the magic carpet before she was cold, tired, and ready to take a break. But that girl was basically begging to get dressed and go skiing again.
After lunch Cambrie stayed on Little Beav with my mom and Camille and we stuck to the magic carpet. McKenzie was so confident that she didn't want my help at all. However, she would keep her skis parallel to each other and would catch a lot of speed so there was no way I was letting her go completely solo. She also started skiing with her eyes closed...what a goofy girl! She made it to about 2:30 and then was too tired to keep going. Cambrie showed up about the same time so I took her on one final run too before both girls headed to the lodge. That last run with Cambrie was my first time with her on a real run. She made sure to tell me everything that Grandma had taught her as we worked our way down. She did such a good job. I was so proud of her. She stayed in control. She kept her ski tips together. She turned down the hill. Even when we got to a cat track and she had to stay straight, she kept her balance over the bumps and ruts. I can't wait for this girl to have more practice and get even better.
All in all it was a perfect day skiing with the girls. They never complained about being cold. They never complained about it being too hard or about falling. They never even complained about being tired. They just had smiles on their faces the whole day and thought the whole thing was awesome.
Once we had them situated in the lodge with Grandma and a movie, Camille and I took a few runs by ourselves. I wasn't really ready for tough runs so we kept it simple. We found some open fields that still had untouched powder which we flew through. We practiced carving on our edges on the groomers. And had a great time with just the two of us. 4:00 came too quickly on the mountain like always and too soon it was time to head home. But what a great day.
1 comment:
Pretty unbelievable that your girls were happy for the whole day! How lucky are you?
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