Dollar Mountain - Sun Valley, Idaho

They did so much better than I thought they would!

It seems Ben told James some time ago that he could ski when he was four. To James, that meant that, since he's four, he would be able to ski. As in, with no lessons, instruction, etc. I had to do a lot of talking to get him to agree to a lesson. I'm not sure how interested Kate was in going skiing, but she followed along with James' excitement.

It took all morning to rent skis and get outfitted (cha-ching. gulp.) We got to the resort at 11:30 and signed up for a private lesson (cha-ching) that began at noon. They were both very excited at the rental store, but tired by the time finally made it to the resort. They both tried to take a nap on the floor while they waited for their teacher to arrive for the challenge of her life.

James did great. I was concerned that he'd get extremely frustrated when he figured out that he didn't actually already know how to ski. They started with walking in the boots (toes outward, toes inward), then adding one ski ("like riding your scooters", first on one foot, then on the other), then both skis.

Kate quit. Everything hurt and she flat out didn't want to cooperate. The teacher tried, coaxed, pulled out every trick in the book. Kate was not be persuaded. I took her into the lodge for a chance to gather her thoughts and pull herself together. We found a vacant couch, took off her boots, helmet, and coat. I asked her to stay put while I went back out to check on James.

James had graduated from the starter hill to the "magic carpet". The magic carpet is a conveyor belt that ferries beginners to the top of a gentle slope. James was skiing! He'd managed the snow plow and could start and stop. It was cute. He was cute. He was excited. He was having fun. It was great.

I went in to see how Kate was doing. She was gone. After three or four minutes of panic, a ski instructor reunited me with my shoeless, coat-less child who had gone outside to look for her neglectful mom. We both recovered. Then, to my great surprise, she agreed to put all her ski gear back on. We got out to the magic carpet in time to see James ski one more time with his instructor, and Kate said she wanted to do it too.

My mom, who had been skiing on her own for the past hour, joined up with us. I helped Kate up and down the little hill a time or two. Mom helped James. Then we all went in for lunch and a much needed break from the ski boots.

James and Kate really wanted to ride the chairlift. Mom and I agreed to give it a try. Dollar Mountain has three chairlifts. Quarter Dollar, Half Dollar and Dollar Lift - in order of difficulty, of course. James went up and down once with Grandma and once with me. Kate went once with me and twice with Grandma.

They both say they want to go skiing again sometime. I'd call that a successful first day.