Brooklyn gave me a heads-up that Olivia was still in Hawaii. A disaster was averted when Soldis’ grandma showed up with her jacket…. Pheww! Finley has a bright new yellow jacket and yellow helmet. Riddley got new goggles for Christmas too. The boisterous gang was out the door at 9:00am sharp. It was a wee bit chilly (-9C) but Ullr was again kind to us with patches of blue sky. Good job by everyone carrying their own equipment without any difficulties. Kids have got lining up at the gondola down pat… and all got skis on by themselves at Raven’s Nest! Our drill for the day was to hold the one pole as if we were riding our bikes. Thank you Axel for lending a pole to Soldis.

We skied behind Raven’s Nest and dropped onto Expressway. Great balance if poles were held with both hands out front. We picked up the pace and did a behind-and-below at the entrance to Dave Murray. I made those that didn’t perform the task properly climb back up and go behind me. Beckett took the class on a speedy run to the Beaver Bench. It was so well hidden in snow, he missed it and stopped at the Garbanzo exit… missing our chance to do some frog hops. :) We headed up the chair and regrouped at the top of Lower Whiskey Jack. It was a little more challenging climbing the left side bank and dropping onto the run through the chopped powder. No problem though if we push the pole into the turn squishing those bananas in our boots. Nice work at a quicker pace to Emerald and good queuing to load chairs.

Regrouping at the light board, I suggested a new challenge: Roundhouse Roll. No hesitation by the team to try something steeper. Beckett and Maleah were off like a shot when I told them there were some nice rollers to the second entrance through the trees. Soldis and Riddley had good face plants in the soft snow. With everybody gathered at the entrance, I showed how to ski across the hill and… 1-2-turn… 1-2- turn, got the camera out then let them all go. I needed 360 vision to keep the kids in frame… we’ll all do better next time!

Back on Upper Whiskey Jack, the side slipping drill was pretty easy after that challenge. Making a left turn at the Chickpea we bounced in and out of the chopped powder on the side of Banana Peel, then skated the road to Orange Peel (holding our poles behind our backs)… a stance and balance drill. All tucked to the entrance of Dave Murray by Pony Trail then through some more chopped powder onto the flats above Bear Cub… more stance and balance work. 360s on the snow getting much better: an edging drill!. Bear Cub jumps at the dog leg were pretty much smoothed out, so just Big-S turns to the ski rack at Raven’s Nest.

Thanks to the lifties being “responsible adults” getting our classes down for 11:15 lunch in the minions building! It was pretty crowded but fed, watered and out the door at 12:00, we were. (Today’s swamp water was orange juice and lemonade).

Our well oiled machine was up the gondola and Red in short order. We did a speedy ski to the Chickpea then did some more wall climbing on Lower Whiskey Jack and regrouped at Emerald. Good work on the speed there, Finley. We skied Olympic and I had the kids exchanging the lead at slow signs to the mid-station Village gondola. I broke out the Swedish Fish on the ride up. Again, excellent job leaving the gondola and putting skis on by the Olympic rings.

A bit of duct tape making a loop on the pole to get little mitts and gloves through.

Roundhouse Roll round two: much better… no splats! Axel was a bit spooked but used side slipping to get himself out of trouble. Good work young guy! We then did “hockey stop” turns to Papoose the into the “shrubbery” above Franz’s and Jimmy’s Joker. No splats through the chicane and dips. Well done all! As we skied the road to the Tree Fort, I pointed out the “Deidre Drop” and the steep pitch next to the Tree Fort. We’ll be doing both of those soon! Kids weren’t complaining about fatigue, their confidence was high … so dropped off the edge of Bear Cub into the Toilet Bowl. A black diamond run!! 1-2 turn.. 1-2 turn to the dog leg at the bottom of Dave Murray… then with the sun on the road back to the gondola I told them all to just play with turns. A great end to challenge packed day.

Next week’s theme is Super Heroes. I’m working on an outfit. There will be no pink tutu for the boys this week. I‘ll save that one for another day… and we’re going to start skiing with two poles. Whoohoo!!!!

Olivia was missing today. She’s lounging on a beach in Hawaii. There was a couple of Santa outfits and Amanda had an amazing penguin onesy. The best I could muster was an angry bird hanging on my jacket. The flashing red bike light I was going to put on my helmet would have blinded anyone following me. After a quick boot check, the “Magnificent Seven” were out the door. Finley and Soldis had new (longer) skis. My soggy gloves dried out from yesterday’s wet weather, and Ullr was kind enough to give us some blue sky.

The mountain hosts were impressed with the cheery banter from the kids marching to the gondola. No problems scanning passes this morning. I asked kids about their Christmas wish lists on the ride up. Axel and Beckett did not want Barbi dolls or pink dresses. Gales of laughter ensued when Soldis suggested a makeup kit for the boys.

Good work getting skis on by the gang. Up Red, I pointed out the notorious “Deidre Drop” to Axel and Beckett that we would be doing in the new year. I got some concerned looks… but no comments. Finley’s figuring out the longer skis, and was faster on the skate to the light board. I had him behind me chasing the angry bird on my jacket to Upper Whiskey Jack. The kids were keen to do our “slip sliding” drill. All round improvement! We then did a series of behind-and-below hockey stops to the Chick Pea. Woohoo! More terrain open, so we did some wall climbing on the left side of Lower Whiskey Jack… dropping back into the run and turning back up hill… not hitting the brick wall in the middle of the run. Nothing more than a couple of sit-down splats in the heavy, untracked snow. Excellent cat-like balance!

Back up Emerald, I picked up the pace a bit navigating to Upper Whiskey Jack and we did non-stop Big-S turns to the Chick Pea. Brooklyn took the class down Papoose and on the road to Orange Peel. Much better skating by the team! Big-S turns by the Tree Fort then we tucked to the flats above Pony Trail. I told Finley to let the skis “run, run, run”. Another new route! We skied by Goats Gully and did our first attempts skiing backwards and doing 360s on the snow in the flat area by Bear Cub. There was mixed reactions about trying jumps on the side of Bear Cub but the kids did study them.

Kids lined skis up nicely at Raven’s Nest and we were down for our 11:15 lunch in the Clubhouse today. Standard grilled cheeses and jam sandwiches washed down with today’s swamp water: cranberry juice and lemonade… and we were promptly out the door at noon.

Kids are getting very good at quickly getting skis on. I think it was in anticipation of a race to the beaver bench on Expressway. Jockeying for position at the bottom of Red, they bolted. I didn’t give them much rest at the finish… we did 20 frog hops. Maleah led the class non-stop to the mid station gondola. I watched as most looked up at merge signs. Nice! The gang gave me another impressive show of getting skis off and marching through the queue. We broke out the Swedish Fish on the ride up. I had Axel convinced that I had a stinky sardine just for him…. :)

From the Olympic rings, we navigated our way into Green Acres. There were some small moguls that all tackled with confidence. Maleah took the class most of the way down the run. I had Finley follow me and we practiced letting the skis run a bit … 1-2-3 turn, 1-2-3 turn. With a left turn onto the road back to Emerald, I introduced another new drill we’ll regularly do on roads: ski on one ski. All went by me giving it a go.

At the top of Emerald, Riddley was a little slow jumping off the chair. He dropped a whole body length… and almost landed it. All good. I had Finley keep close to me to Whiskey Jack then gave Beckett and Axel turns leading the class to the Chick Pea. Skis off, we went in for a break, some water and I read Robert Munsch’s “I have to Go”.

Back out, Soldis led the class down Banana Peel (squish, squish through turns). Without much of a prompt, some tried skiing on one ski and the rest skated with their hands behind their backs on the road to Orange Peel. We threaded our way through some other classes and tucked across the flats to Pony Trail. Wow! Much better and good hockey stops on behind-and-below. I asked if anyone was tired and Brooklyn piped up, “Lets ski fast!”. OK .. off we went past Goats Gully and regrouped at the entrance to Bear Cub. Axel was pretty aggressive on the jumps at the dog leg and collided with Riddley. No damage, but we had a chat about being aware of the skier(s) below you… they have the right of way.

On our end-of-day download, I realized Axel’s goggles had gone walkies. I told the lifties they must be near the top of the gondola and my fingers are crossed they make their way to guest relations. I didn’t have my Ski Tracks app running today, but I’m sure we did as much mileage as last week… and we were going fast enough to have my phone tell me there would be no notifications while I was driving.

All the very best to you for the holidays. I’m off to Calgary on Friday to see the family and grand kids, but will be back on the hill from the 28th helping out at snow school. Our next session is on January 7th and the theme is Back to Basics. I’d like the kids to have one pole. Don’t worry… I’ll remind you before our first Monday in the new year.