Skiing in the Green Mountain State

One thing about living in Vermont is that when the weather gets cold and the snow starts to fall, you ski. Whether it be XC or Alpine, it's just the thing to do around here, and something that I've wanted to encourage in Audrey and Nicholas from the get go, especially with the kids. Having grown up in Southern California, skiing was an activity that only few people had the means or the desire to do. Consequently, it has an air of exclusivity and privilege, regardless of whether or not it's warranted. Then again, this LA we're talking about here.

It's different up here. Everyone skis, and it really is accessible to most people. All the schools have ski programs, and there are affordable lift tickets and equipment. I tried to encourage Audrey and Nicholas to downhill ski, but they just never really clicked with it. Maybe I jumped in too fast and they just weren't ready, but they indicated that they just weren't into it. I was bummed, but the bright side was that I could snowboard by myself, even if my dream of skiing as a family had come to an abrupt end.

We took up XC skiing, instead, and they enjoyed that, even if it was more work, it is a more thoughtful and soulful experience, and one we've done as a family for the past year. Well, just the other day, as I was getting ready to snowboard at the Quechee Hill, they told me that they wanted to ski with me. I couldn't believe it, and we hit the slopes and they had a blast.

A complete turnaround. We had to upgrade Audrey's stuff and tune it up, and Nicholas is due for the same, but we skiied two days in a row at the local hill. Saw a bunch of our friends, the kids made huge strides in their skiing, and now we're a skiing family. How cool is that?

When in Rome, and all. I'm excited but have to take a deep breath and take it slowly, but for now, I'm stoked. Want to go skiing all the time, and they've reached a point where I could probably bring my snowboard while they skiied, but I want to be there for them if they need me.

My name is Fred Lee, and until the next time, thanks for reading.