Back story on my family's skiing adventures

After fielding some questions about how my family started cross country skiing and the fact that I did not become proficient (a term I used loosely) with this sport until a few years ago, I thought I'd share this back story of how we got started.

I started my kids on downhill skis when they were 4 and 5 years old. We needed a winter sport in our lives because my husband grew up in southern Californian and was not enjoying the Maine winters (our first in Maine with a newborn was the big ice storm in '98 and the winter we decided to downhill started early with record snow fall totals). The girls loved ski school at Attitash (we had coupons that made this affordable that year) and Fino and I took snowboarding classes (it was kid-less bliss for a couple of hours on the slopes every time we went, which was just what we needed at the time). We opted for snowboarding because Fino knew how to ski (thanks to the Army) but I had only downhill skied once when I was a teen (I actually hit a car in the parking lot that first time because I jumped a snow bank due to my inability to slow down -- I was fine but my dad was a nervous wreck and wouldn't take me again). So Fino and I settled on something that was new to both of us to learn while the kids were busy with their own class.

We started cross country skiing together when the girls were 6 and 7 years old. It was at this time we came to the realization that we could not afford trips to the mountain more than a couple of times a season (and coupons were becoming harder to come by). I had cross country skied a couple of times in college but was no expert. (I grew up in a city just outside Boston with a mother who HATED being outside and a dad who didn't care so much for it either. I had actually never been camping or hiking until a friend took me on a trip with her family in high school). I found out about the Healthy Hometowns program (as I mentioned in my column this month) through a friend and organized a group through my kids' 4-H club (at the time there were no ski groups for 6 and 7 year olds and that's why I decided I'd start my own).

Hooking up with Healthy Hometowns was a real money-saver. The cost of rentals - for the entire winter - through Healthy Hometowns was $40/per child that year (it's only gone up $5 since we started doing this) and the girls got racing-quality equipment (and still do). Putting this ski club together really was a leap of faith though (Healthy Hometowns requires an organized group - of any kind - to participate in their rental program). I was like the Goofy character on skis (with my boarding experience of two feet strapped to ONE board, managing my independent feet on skis was even more challenging and I tripped myself constantly) but I knew my kids would enjoy learning to cross country ski if they could learn with other kids and I wanted to make this work (I had the incentive to find a more affordable sport).

There were three things that made this work for me.

1. Pineland offered a class for Healthy Hometown Ski Club leaders to teach them games and skills to bring back to their groups. 

2. I had spent several years teaching gym-type classes for preschoolers and elementary school-aged kids through my local recreation department (Kindergym, school yard games, Jump Rope club and some others). 

3. I like to learn new things and view raising my kids as my second childhood (doing all the things I didn't get a chance to do the first time around).

And if you read my retro blog about winter sports, you will see the evolution of our skiing experience through the years (I started blogging in 2005 so it's not from the very beginning). We spent most of our early years with the ski club in an open field and small section of a trail. As for a couple of other questions I've been asked recently about when to start a child out on cross country skis, I'd say that they'd likely enjoy it in preschool. A couple of members in our 4-H ski club have younger siblings and one is 3 years old. He doesn't keep up with the other kids skiing for long but his mom or dad pull him on a sled when he gets tired. Another almost 4-year-old skied quite a distance one week and even tried the hula hoop a few times. Through the years on the trails, I have seen plenty of little ones like these two preschoolers do remarkably well on skis. They don't have a lot of endurance but they like to play the games and are capable of short distances. And having a sled standing by (or staying close to the trail head) makes this sport much more enjoyable to learn - and regularly do - as a family when you keep things realistic for little ones. OK, so that's the back story. Have I convinced anyone that cross country skiing can be for the everyday family?