Now I remember why I don't share lodgings with large numbers of Boy Scouts (or any other large number of teenage boys). It is almost 11:00 at night and they have not yet begun to settle down. Hope of rest is not high. I will add more to this tomorrow before I post...
Funny thing, as soon as I finished the snippet I wrote last night I decided to say something about the noise. As soon as the door started to open the room went silent, like magic. I chuckled, commented about how interesting it was that the door opening silenced the room and then reminded them that people needed to sleep. All was quiet until morning.
I got up early to get a shower. I had just turned off the water and heard an alarm. I couldn't believe it because it was 6:30! A few minutes later the talking started and it was all over downstairs.
We finally headed for the slopes around 9:15. Good thing it was only 2 miles to the ski area.
I thought that there would be ski instruction for the new kids so I headed for the chair lift to get my feet back under me. It has been at least 25 years since I went skiing and I was amazed at how fast it came back to me. Unfortunately it was just fend for yourselves so right about the time that I was ready to head for more difficult slopes I realized that Peter was not getting any instruction. So I headed over to try to teach him.
I was dressed for actively skiing. Unfortunately Peter was not ready for active skiing so I spent a lot of time standing around. Even the most patient parent will begin to get irritated when they are cold and dealing with a fearful child. To make matters worse, the beginner chair has a steep end to it and Peter was not up to dealing with that. I put too much pressure on him and caused him to crash. It was spectacular but he was not happy so we went and got something to eat.
After we ate Peter went to one of the beginner areas with another adult and I headed for the beginner chair and then on to the top. The beginner chair kept stopping so I jumped out of line and headed for the top. I really should have headed for the top early on (before helping Peter). Conditions were icy and so I had to take it much slower. Next time, Peter gets lessons so I have time to get one good run in.
In spite of everything, Peter decided it was a good time and wants to do it again.
Where did you go? I remember taking the youth group there and it was man-made ice and I was not a trooper, I think it was Beach Mountain.
ReplyDeleteWe were up at Cataloochee (above Maggie Valley, just over 3 hrs from Stelmo). Skiing was good in the morning but, even with cold temps, turned icy in the afternoon. Base was 6-8 feet of manmade with a couple inches of natural on top. Not a great place to learn (beginner chair has a steep part at the end (you know, where the crowds are standing around). On top of that, the beginner run (off the same chair) that allowed a more gradual descent to the lift line was converted to a "freestyle" area (so you get creamed by oblivious snowboarders if you try to use it).
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