Skiing at Timberridge

The girls and I went skiing at Timberridge in Michigan with a group of home shoolers this past Monday. This particular ski place offers a great discount for home schoolers on all Mondays in January and February. This was our first year to be able to go. Leah had a "Daddy Day." It has been 16 years since I last down-hilled. I had learned and only ever skied on the "real" slopes out in Colorado. I had heard that Midwest skiing was much different, but I'll have to say that at my age, it was just fine for me!

After talking to a few of the moms who have gone in years past and discussing it with Alex, I decided not to put the girls in ski school. A few of the moms had offered to help me in teaching the girls, and the one-on-one lessons proved to be very beneficial!

After getting all suited up, we started out at the bunny hill.

Under Sally K.'s instruction, Megan is learning how to snow plow (or "make a pizza") down the slope.

I worked with Grace. This is at the top of the bunny slope just after we got off the tow rope. She is also learning to snow plow down the slope.

After spending about an hour on the bunny slope learning ski control, turning and stopping, we took the girls over to the ski lift to let them try out their new abilities. Here is Grace just off the ski lift at the top of the slope ready for her first trip down. We took Dean's Pass, a nice gentle curvy trail, down for this run. I don't remember that she fell once her first time down. Amazed, I kept saying, "Grace, you're doing it!" as I followed her.

Megan and Kayla at the very top ready to go down......

...and they're off.

After lunch a few of the girls went back on the bunny slope to take a few runs down. Megan tells me that they had "races" to see who would win. Grace and I went straight back to the ski lift. By this time it had started to snow a very light snow, and it did this for most of the afternoon.

I pretty much hung out with all the young girls for the day. This little shed was a favorite "meeting spot" and also where the ski run split between the more curvy route on the left and the straight down route (just behind the girls) on the right. By the afternoon, the girls were just flying down the straight path. They'd be at the bottom while I was still half way up. After one hard wipe out earlier in the day, I was a bit nervous to venture "straight" down. I had to zig zag some at first, but eventually regained my confidence back and straightened my path out. I do know that my "arrow prayers" that I uttered (on my own behalf) as I flew down the slope also helped to keep me upright and in control :)

At one point in the afternoon, I stayed down by the lift so I could capture a series of shots as the girls skied down the slope. It seemed like forever waiting for them to ride up the lift and work their way down. While I was waiting, several people skied past me and asked if I was okay. I guess I looked a bit funny sitting there with my legs sprawled out to the side. (It's next to impossible to sit gracefully on the ground with skis still on!)

This is when Grace reached the bottom

and Megan as she approached the end of the run.

Sometime mid-afternoon Grace's fingers were frozen, so she and I went into the lodge to warm up. I gave her my hand warmers, put an extra layer of gloves on, and briefly visited with the moms who spent the day in the lodge.

This is the last run down at the end of our day. All of the girls lined up along the top of this ledge and skied down one after the other. From there, we all skied down to the lodge and returned our boots and skis.

Megan.... Grace and I had just skied off the same ledge.

Here is Grace when she did it.

She then took her skis off as we waited for the rest of the girls to come down. I love this shot of her!

All done with skiing. Boots are returned. Fingers and toes are beginning to thaw. Grace's fingers were especially COLD! She even tried putting them under running water, but the water in the bathroom was too hot for her frozen fingers. Thankfully, one of her friends let her borrow hand warmers, which she held on to for a while.

It was really fun to be there with a group of people we knew! As you ride the ski lift, you can watch for anyone you know, and vice versa, they watch you as you ski down. (I did think of this as I was zig-zagging my way down the straight pass! My pride was telling me that everyone will see if I wipe out :) )

I was so proud of the girls and how well they did! It just gives us one more thing that we can all do together, and for this I am very thankful!

~Wee