Me ski?

My son and I went skiing this past Sunday in West Virginia with my son's boy scout troop. We had a great time.

Each year, the ski resort, Winterplace, has a scout day each month. Scouts and their family members can ski for half price. For 50 bucks you get ski equipment, ski lessons, and lunch. Its a great deal. Maybe too great a deal. A lot of people show up and it can take 2 hours of waiting in line to get your equipment, but we've learned to avoid this process by showing up really early. We got our equipment right away and were out on the slopes by 8:30.

This is our third year going and I met my goals for this year. Each year I try to add more skill. My goal this year was to get off the bunny slopes and go down a gentle trail half way up the mountain. I succeeded! Even though the trail is gentle, the edge is a steep dropoff which lends to the fear factor. You wouldn't get too hurt if you went over the edge. There are trees to catch you before rolling down the mountain side, but it still makes you wary. One of my son's school friends was there and did go over the edge. He came to school the next day with a sprang ankle and crutches so my fear is probably justified.

I also learned how to stop quite well this year. Just getting to the ski lift to go up the mountain is a challenge in itself with some slopes steeper than the bunny slopes. This is where the better stopping skills come in, but I did it. My son continues to improve as well though he's not as adventurous as me.

There are some definite break your neck trails there. I'm fascinated to watch people go down such steep slopes. I"m also amazed at how quickly little kids learn to ski. They don't give ski poles to anyone under 10 years old and these kids do great.

Apparently a lot of family members come and make a day out of it. The lunch room stays full of people all day. The lodge provides music groups and they have a Karoke competition. People bring their own coolers and set up areas of the room for their groups. It gets quite crowded but is fun.

I don't know if scouts is expanding my son's horizons but it sure is expanding mine. I would never have skiied if not for his troop. Since he's joined the troop, I've been skiing, mountain biking, canoeing, been stopped by security forces at Fort Bragg, played with bomb disposal robots, etc. Lots of fun.

Definitely been worth it.