What a great weekend we had!
The 3 older boys had been
BEGGING to learn to ski. The younger 2 really had no interest, so Mike stayed
with them and after borrowing ski clothes/helmets from friends, the 4 of us
headed up to Big Bear last Friday. The drive up the mountain is
not an easy one. Very windy, narrow and one that I would NOT want to do at
night. Ever! There was no traffic and we made it up without a hitch! We checked into to a
glorified motel(not my fav) - although the view was nice,
and got situated. I was advised to head to the
resort after 6pm to rent the skis rather than waiting until Sat. morning to
avoid the rush(which was a good thing because Sat. morning, when we arrived, the line for rentals was out the door and around the corner!)
We ventured into the “Village”, walked around,
visited the
local stores and had dinner at a little Mexican restaurant in the town. Of
course, no night would be complete without eating ice cream in the 22 degree
weather!
The next morning, we drove
about 5 minutes to Snow Summit and parked for $20 in the VIP section, which was
one of the best tips I rec’d! It is SO close to the mountain, and as I had to
go back and forth to the car several times during the day, it was a MUCH better
walk, then having to trek back thru the reg. parking lot. It was COLD!
After lathering the
boys with sunscreen, group classes started at 9:45am and went until 11:45am.
There were was 8 kids in the group and for the boys 1st time, it was ok for them to get acclimated this way. They did great! We left the ski resort to have lunch and with in and out privileges in the VIP lot, it was easy to go and come back without a hassle. The next round of lessons started at 1:45 and lasted until 3:45pm. The afternoon lesson only had 5 kids(3 of which were mine), however the boys did complain that they had to do a lot of waiting around for the others, that may have fallen or needed extra assistance.
I decided that since I had
already spent a small fortune on lessons($350 total for day 1!), a little more for a private would go
a lot father! The ski school was very accommodating and helped me switch the
lessons for the following day, from a 4 hour group, to a 2 hour private($400 total).
I am not sure the boys knew
how totally exhausted the would be from skiing. After the afternoon lesson
ended, they skied for a little longer and then we headed back to the lodge. The
boys had every intention of heading back into the “Village”, but after showers,
decided ordering a pizza would be better. ALL 3 were asleep BY 6:30pm!
One mistake I made was
leaving the boys gloves in the car overnight. Oops! They were wet from the day
before and never dried, and even froze a bit in the car, making it was hard to
put on the next morning. Lesson learned. Don’t leave the gloves in the car
after skiing!
The next day, the private lessons were from 8am-10am with a
WONDERFUL girl named Crystal Johnston, that came highly recommended to me and after
seeing how amazing she was with the boys, I would too highly recommend her for
private lessons, if anyone was looking for an instructor! Seeing how much the
boys had improved from day 1 to day 2 made me realize that my choice in
privates the next day was truly the right one! Proof here:
The kids took a break, we had some lunch(which by the way, was VERY expensive - $60...I know - not the healthiest!)
and then
headed back onto the mountain, just the 3 of them, on the bunny runs, while I
watched from down below.
They had strict instructions to stay together and all
supported one another on the slopes!
The weather was gorgeous. It
was just like spring skiing – but in January! Some were even in t-shirts! The
instructors made all the kids take off their beanies and jackets before the
lessons even started. Most of the day it was about 56-58 degrees and sunny!
While it had not snowed in town, the mountain made snow and it was perfect,
especially or what the kids needed it for!
The kids were in heaven. All
they talked about after their 2nd day of skiing is when they can go
again! It definitely is not a cheap sport. That is for sure! But if we can do
it a few times a year, it will be great! Next time, I think we are ALL going to
try to go, including the little ones – should be interesting!
So glad that I had this time
to bond with the 3 older boys. Memories made that will last a lifetime.
