ski update

Took Matthew skiing on Sunday up at Mt. Pakenham, despite a high of -23 C. After spending 45 minutes waiting to rent him skis the previous Sunday, I decided that I'd buy him a pair of his own - we figure that after Matt's done with them, Madison can use them. I found a great deal at SportMart, (not to be confused with the previously referenced sportchek).

Pakenham is 25 minutes away, and is a great little family oriented hill - it reminds me a lot of the hill I grew up skiing, which was only a ten minute drive from my house.

The first three or four runs frustrated Matthew a bit, but once he found his balance and understood how to snowplow, there was no stopping him. I remember being told (and don't ask me how or why I remember this) when I was learning to ski, that if you make your skis look like a slice of pizza that you could control your speed. The bigger the piece of pizza the slower you go. Them smaller the piece of pizza the faster you go. I guess this analogy worked, because after a half dozen runs he was going down the whole bunny hill without falling. Next week, he wants to go up the big hill, up the chairlift.

I guess I should try to teach him how to turn. However, I won't be teaching Matt for long. We plan on putting him in private lessons so that he takes instruction from someone who is certified, and someone who isn't his Dad so he doesn't tune out the instruction too quickly, and so that I don't foist unrealistic expectations on him.