Audio: Listen to Elliot’s Version
Video: Watch Elliot Ski
Lift Ticket
Winters suck in the Pacific Northwest. This is my 10th winter in Portland and, as it was approaching, I had an overwhelming feeling of dread. I began taking Vitamin D and pricing trips to Hawaii. I got even more depressed when I realized there’s no way I can afford a trip to Hawaii.
So I decided that, if we are going to live here for the long term (which we are), I need to start finding things I love to do during the winter.
I grew up in Montana, where winters are epic. I was raised in a family that celebrated the snow with downhill skiing, sledding and ice skating. I once took a cross country skiing class, but became so bored that I ditched, hiked up a nearby hill, and skied down. When my mom found out, she put me in downhill lessons instead.
But the Pacific Northwest winter rain confounds me. Sure, we have rain gear. But tromping through the muddy, soggy woods loses my interest at about February. I try to be positive about it in order to get Elliot outside, but I truly hate it. One of these days she’s going to figure that out. That’s why we went skiing.
One of my brothers (I have 3) lives here in Portland with his family. His oldest son is my daughters age – they are more like siblings than they are cousins.
Riding the shuttle bus.
Elliot riding the Magic Carpet lift to the top.
Elliot and her cousin take a hot chocolate break.
Happy Snow Bunny!
We went to Mt. Hood Meadows up on Mt. Hood. There is a bunny slope with a “magic carpet”-style lift for the kiddos. All-day tickets for that one run are just $10/each. The ski rental costs were not so cheap.
We arrived in the afternoon and, after showing the kiddos how to snowplow their skis, we got on the lift. The first few runs down with Elliot did not go well. The problem? I was trying to teachher to ski. I am a terrible teacher. I kept telling her what to do and taking it very slow. By the time we got to the bottom of the second run, she wanted to go home. Clearly I was doing something wrong.
So I changed my approach. I coaxed her up one more time, then I shut my mouth, offered to share my pole (not the pointy end) and told her hold on, bend her knees, and lean forward. We flew down the hill! When we got to the bottom, she said, “I want to go again!” and marched right over to the lift for another turn.
We kept this up for several hours until I practically had to tear her off the mountain so we could have some lunch. It was 3:00 and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet.
After scarfing down our burgers and hot chocolate, the kids wanted to go back out. Even the blizzard that had driven about half the skiers off the mountain couldn’t keep them from the bunny slope.
This time, both kids skied down by themselves! It was so amazing! I was especially proud when I told Elliot to slow down because there were people in her path. She looks at me (as she’s flying down the hill) and says, “I’m going around them, mom.” And she did.
Elliot continues to amaze me whenever we try something new. She has such confidence and her complete lack of self doubt makes her able to learn things quickly. It’s a trait that I cherish and I hope she holds onto into adulthood. We adults tend to over-think things and hold ourselves back.
While this was a fantastic experience that Elliot keeps re-living, it’s probably one that will not be repeated this winter. It took 3 hours from the time we left our house to the time we got geared up and on the ski hill. That’s a lot of prep time. The road on the mountain is treacherous. And the rental cost is steep – $80 for our ski rentals and lift tickets.
This is something we can do 2-3 times each winter until Elliot is a little older and can take ski lessons. We can cut our costs just like my parents did with me – buying used gear at ski swaps in the Fall. I’m thinking age 7 will be prime time for her to really learn how to ski.
While it doesn’t solve my immediate need to survive this winter, I definitely found something to look forward to.
Video of Elliot on the Slopes:
Her confidence did waver once near the end of the day when I tried to get video of her skiing to me.
