Beckett and Olivia were among the missing today. Axel did let me know that he saw Olivia’s dad and told him she wasn’t feeling well. Beckett???
Behind the scenes before you arrive, Scotty has been getting each of us to give a short “Toolbox Safety” chat to your Kinder instructors. From my chat a few weeks ago, Elyse got a good pointer about checking that kids boots were done up properly before we head out. I got some really good ideas from Sigrid today about safety in the trees. Shall put them to the test first chance we get.
From the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. For Axel, the budding archeologist,
We were out the door shortly after my 9:00am alarm sounded and we were promptly up the gondola regrouping at Raven’s Nest. Woohoo! All equipment on without any help from me. Axel took the class around the Nest to the beaver bench … hitting jumps on the side of Expressway.
Hooray! All stopped at the spot today. I let them off doing frog hops as we were headed to the CLC where some terrain park features (boxes, rainbow arch and jumps) were supposed to be set up. Maleah must have seen there was no features and took the class straight to the mid station gondola. … :)
Awesome! Kids carried their gear to the Olympic rings and all kitted up, ready to go without my assistance. We regrouped at the Welcome Pole and headed for Green Acres for some bump challenges. Emphasizing squishing bananas (keeping shins in contact with the front of boots); bear hugs (arms out front and seeing gloves at all times); keeping both pole baskets touching snow (angulation)… parallel turns in the moguls just happen! Good performance all!. With a couple of behind-and-below reminders (ahem…) the kids exchanged leading the class to the last pitch. I took up a position on the road to Emerald and all had to ski by me on one ski… then further along they had to switch legs.
Disembarking Emerald, Finley lead the class around the Roundhouse on Upper Whiskey Jack. We scooted into the bottom of Roundhouse Roll. Good job all on the pace to get there. The snow wasn’t as crusty as I expected (something for after lunch). Axel and Brooklyn led the class in hockey stop turns (braquage) all the way to the Chickpea where we made a left turn onto Papoose and skated the road to Orange Peel. Got a couple of little “pops” on the bike trail exit, followed by good tucks across Orange Peel flats to Pony Trail / Dave Murray merge. Over the jump and by Goats Gully we practiced 360s on the snow to Bear Cub entrance. I barked “NO PIZZAS” forcing kids to concentrate on turns all the way to Raven’s Nest and downloaded for our 11:15 lunch reservation in the minions building.
I should get a video of getting kids gear into a laundry bag; seated at a table; and lunch orders served. I’m amazed at the efficiency of the team. For the guy who has trouble making his own lunch, my wife would get a good giggle of the show. Today’s swamp water was orange and cranberry juice. Before leaving at noon, I asked the kids to all go into the kitchen and in loud voices, thank the staff for making us such good lunches… :) That was well received.
I promised Riddley and Brooklyn they could upload on the gondola with “responsible adults”. Again, all skis on at Raven’s Nest without my help. Maleah took the class to the beaver bench through the jumps without any splats. Good stance all. I took the class through more jumps onto the exit to Garbanzo and we cut left at the Fitzsimmons Chair onto Crabapple. It was a bit icy! However: squishing bananas, bear hugs, pole baskets on the snow at all times… skis would bite resulting in smooth big-S turns. We got envious stares from a couple of adult beginner classes as we skied by them.
Finley and Riddley were curious where the Fitzsimmons Chair went. On the 22 minute ride up the gondola, we read a story, devoured a bag of dried mangos (Soldis wasn’t too sure about them) and played a game of “guess the animal”. I stumped them with “warthog” until I mentioned Pumbaa from the Lion King.
I got an enthusiastic thumbs up to do Roundhouse Roll. Great! I had to get a photo of the roofless Umbrella Bar damage from the weekend wind storm. No splats on the jump to the last entrance. I told the kids I wouldn’t video them so they could concentrate on turns. Maleah slid on her backside most of it, and I told Finley he could side slip as long as he didn’t sit down. After his first turn, he straight lined it… without crashing. I did wince! We parked our skis at the Chickpea and went in for some much needed hydration. As I cleaned up when we were leaving, I had a panic attack… my helmet and gloves were gone. Thank you, Maleah, for parking everything by my skis… Sheesh!
We did a non-stop run on Lower Whiskey Jack doing some wall climbing on the left side of the run. Easy peasie… From the Roundhouse we did a non-stop run on Upper Whiskey Jack to the Chickpea. I’m impressed with the stamina we’re building. Kids skis on a line I drew in the snow… GO! With hands behind their backs skated the flats to the top of Orange Peel. There was a lot of banter about who got there first, but all were there within seconds of each other. We skied the left side, checking over our shoulders at the merge and tucked the section below the Tree Fort. Maleah and Axel had enough steam to climb the hill and drop onto the flats past Goats Gully. Over the drop at Bear Cub, through the Toilet Bowl, we skied Dave Murray back to Raven’s Nest for our end-of-the-day run. We had a bit of time and kids still had lots of energy, so some one ski racing before downloading.
Another great day in paradise!
Next week there will be features set up at the CLC (theme is Free Ride Week) … and dress up is encouraged!
