One of the highlights of the Christmas trip to Colorado was to take Tuan and Trang skiing. They had seen their first snow only a few days before - then we drove into the mountains to Copper Mountain.
Yeah - it was cold. I am a firm believer that taking skiing lessons is the only way to go. Lift tickets, lessons, and equipment were all included. But they made it through the process of trying on stiff heavy boots they had never worn before, then waited for the five hour lesson to begin.
If anyone can make it through the first two hours of ski school, then they will enjoy skiing. Watching the two of them, I remembered the first-day strange feeling of sliding down a hill on boards strapped to your feet - and I remembered the labor of walking sideways up the little hill. Everything feels so weird during the first few hours of skiing.
Of course there was a little bit of friendly competition. Trang let me know that she didn't fall - at least at first. Being the daring young man he is, Tuan pushed the limits a little more with predictable consequences. I thought he was quite graceful when he fell.
But the reward for those goofy first two hours was being able to get on a ski lift and ski down a nice trail on their own.
What fun - and it was mine to watch and enjoy.
