Bunny steps back to mountain adventures

My youngest took a nasty fall while downhill skiing on an icy slope when she was 8 years old. No bones were broken but she had the wind knocked out of her and a good long crying jag wrapped up the event. She declared after that trip that she would not get back on downhill skis again. It took four years and the gentle teaching style of a Perfect Turn ski coach at Sunday River to get her back to loving the sport again.

My kids learned how to downhill ski when they were 4 and 5 years old. My husband, Fino, and I decided we needed some time to ourselves and signed the girls up for downhill ski lessons. They were busy for several hours while he and I had some freedom to do our own mountain activity (learning to snowboard), kid-less.

The girls loved their ski lessons and by the time they were 8 and 9 years old they were navigating the moguls and skiing on advanced trails during their classes. My youngest daughter showed no fear on the mountain pre-fall and was one of those little (annoying) kids whizzing past all the adults on the mountain.

When an opportunity to take a Perfect Turn class at Sunday River came up this year, my now 13-year-old decided she was ready to give the mountain another try. But she had conditions.

“I’m only skiing on the bunny hill. You can’t make me go on the mountain mom. And you have to stay with me the whole time. That’s the only way I’ll do it again.”

I thought these conditions were a reasonable first step. It also prompted me to agree to learn to downhill ski. I figured I could handle the bunny hill even though I have put on a pair of downhill skis exactly once. I was 16 and I managed to ski down a very small mountain, jump a snow bank, and ski in to a parked car in the lot.

I was not hurt but it was a (reluctantly) memorable moment.

Time for downhill skiing redemption. I figured I could manage a pair of downhill skis for an afternoon and provide my daughter with some entertainment. I have found the best way to make my daughters less nervous is to try to do something new. This typically ensures a display of uncoordination on my part that usually prompts a laughfest for my progeny.

The day of our family lesson I explained to our ski coach Jill about our varying levels of skiing ability and confidence on the slopes - from my complete lack of experience on downhill skis to my daughter’s fear of them. Since my husband had learned to downhill years ago and my older daughter was eager to get back to the sport, my youngest and I were, initially, the focus of the lesson.

Jill’s teaching style was the perfect fit for my fearful daughter. She kept the pace of the class slow, didn’t push and offered lots of tips about how to control the speed of her skis and about how to stop.

I learned how to snow plow (a.k.a. “pizza pie” to my kids) to stop on downhill skis, which I found much easier to managed than with my cross country skis.

Jill also reviewed other options for slowing down while on the mountain that included traversing. That’s when a skier points his or her skis diagonally across the width of the trail and skis in that direction. Once across, the skier turns and skies in another diagonal line back to the other side. And if a skier feels like their speed is still too fast, they can simply point their skis slightly uphill until the speed slows (you aren’t going to go very fast with skis pointing more uphill than down).

Depending on the angle of your traversing, it can be a slow ride down the mountain but for beginner skiers it’s a great way to feel confident at controlling speed on your descent down the mountain.

My daughter and I practiced our traversing on the bunny hill and within a few runs my daughter was smiling and looking confident on her skis again.

I wasn’t doing too shabby either, thanks (I think) to my years of snowboarding and cross country skiing.

Then Jill said we were doing so well that we should get on the lift to try the beginner slope. My 13-year-old shrugged and agreed easily, which I had not anticipated would happen after only 30 minutes.

I was thrilled and put aside concerns about my own ability to actually get down the slope without a fall. I decided to believe Jill’s assessment that I was ready for it.

We did a couple of runs on the beginner hill with Jill and then did a couple more after our lesson. It was clear a lot of my daughter’s confidence had returned. She was leading the family pack and pondering why I was skiing so slow.

“Come on mom. You are taking forever.”

Not a comment I normally appreciate but that day it made me smile.

Our visit to Sunday River included an overnight stay at the Grand Summit Resort and we woke to a raging nor’easter the next morning. That might have discouraged less eager skiers but my kids had not had their fill of the mountain. They were ready for more.

After a couple of hours of pelting snow and wind, everyone was still smiling on the mountain.

I think we weathered the storm and came out back on top.