Passing on the passion

I want my daughter to love skiing as much as I do. Last year while on a long weekend in Vermont with friends I decided to take Teddy on her inaugural runs at Killington with a pair of plastic skis she could strap her shoes into. She loved it and I couldn’t have been prouder when she bawled her eyes out because she didn’t want to stop skiing. However, at 2.5 she wasn’t quite strong enough to balance on her own two feet while in motion so I ended up in an awkward back breaking bent over position holding her between my arms and her skis barely touching the snow while she repeated over and over again "Faster daddy, faster!”.

I learned a few lessons.

 First, gear matters. The plastic skis had so much drag that it was hard for her to slide down the hill even with me holding her. The skis acted like anchors slowing us down. That friction made the act of skiing even more difficult since moving is necessary to learn.

The second lesson was that a child needs to be strong enough to balance while in motion before really starting to learn. The fact that she hadn’t quite figured out how to ride her scooter in the park should have been a clue for me. Every child develops differently and I know some 2.5 year olds who likely could handle the demands of skiing, but I needed to wait a season for my daughter.

The third lesson was that fun was definitely more important than form! I hobbled away from that first set of runs a little bent over with some lower back pain but a huge smile on my face. Far more important than my pain was the joy Teddy had experienced “skiing” down the mountain, fresh air blowing in her face, snow spraying off the back of her anchor skis, and a nice hot chocolate waiting in the lodge.