Skiing Part II: Oopsie-Daisy

I would have to declare 2008 the best year for snow since 2004. We had lovely sunny days and lovely snowy days and everyone had a great time.

That is, except for Domestic Goddess's 8 yo son ...

who broke his leg on the very first day, and one of the parents ...

who broke a bone in her hand on the third day, and Domestic Goddess's 5 yo son ...

who had an altercation with a window ledge in the lodge on the fifth day and has the coolest looking black eye to show the kids back at school.

They say things happen in threes, but Firegazer also has a suspected cracked rib.

I wouldn't want to put anyone off skiing. We are normally injury-free.

It seems churlish with all these injuries to then want to brag a little... but after six years of skiing at Thredbo I finally got up the courage to ski my nemesis black run Funnelweb. And then I skied it again.

Girls' Ski Trip to Thredbo '08

The weather was magnificent and there was just enough snow.

The company was just the right amount of crazy

The food was better than any on offer at the local restaurants.

But if offered a sample of the 'Rainbow Python' Schnapps, we recommend you just smile and back away slowly lest you be convinced to swallow this cough-mixture-like concoction.

Only three weeks until my next trip, this time en famille. I'm a lucky little B.

Skiing with the Kids, EasternMax Style

2007 marked our sixth family ski holiday in Australia and we've taken the kids skiing overseas once (the lucky buggers). Skiing is what we do together as a family. It is somewhat like tearing up $100 notes under the shower and it is a privilege to be able to do it but it's cheaper than sailing, riding horses or owning a weekender and we LOVE it.

A couple of days ago BlueMountainsMary asked if I would post advice on how to organise a family ski holiday. So Mary, this is for you, and for anyone else who is interested.

A disclaimer: This is how skiing works for us. You'll need to decide if it will work for you.

• We ski with at least one other family with children of a similar age. We ski with the same families every year, give or take a family. It is often the only time of the year that our kids see these families but they love catching up and having someone to play with before and after ski-class. We stay at the same lodge-style accommodation and they have a lovely time running as a pack. The bonus is that we adults have other adults to ski with as well.
  
  
• We put the kids in full-day ski school every day. The day we arrive and the day before we leave are "family ski days", otherwise the kids are in full-time ski school and we adults ski together. Ski school is great fun for the kids; they ski with kids their own age, have snowball fights and learn a skill that will last a lifetime. This makes it a holiday for everyone.
  
  
• We stay on-mountain. It is hard enough getting the kids up and ready for ski school in time without adding an additional 40 -50 minutes to the trip by staying off-mountain. In fact the closer to the ski school the better. It's more expensive this way so you will have to weigh up budget vs convenience. For the record, we stay in a Lodge which we book out with our friends so the kids can run wild without fear of upsetting other guests.
  
  
• If the kids are warm, the parents are happy. Don't skimp on the clothes that will touch your children's skin. We now own all our own gear but for first timers or seldom skiers you will need to buy (or borrow) for each child: 2 pairs long thermals, 1 pair of waterproof mittens attached to elastic and threaded through their jacket, 1 pair ski goggles, 2 pairs thin ski socks. Then hire waterproof ski pants/jacket, a helmet, skis, boots and poles. If it's particularly cold it may be worth buying a 'neck gator' as well. The key element here is WATERPROOF. Thin nylon jackets don't cut it in Australia.
  
  
• Helmets. We ALL wear helmets. Kids and Adults. It's just our rule. Apart from obvious safety aspects they are warm and hold goggles on securely. Easy to hire anywhere.
  
  
• Food. Skiing is an extreme sport with greater than normal food requirements. I stuff my kids pockets each day with cut up fruit, biscuits and a sweet treat (eg. sml pkt Jelly Dinosaurs). Believe me, you don't want your ski day shortened by a phone call from an instructor holding a tired child with a sugar-low. When our kids were very young we would turn up to ski school at the end of the day holding a warm Milo and a Jelly Snake and get it into them before attempting the trip to the Lodge.
  
  
• Which Resort? All Australian resorts have excellent children's ski programs. We ski Thredbo because of the mix of terrain types and Village atmosphere, but every skier has their favourite. Perhaps choose the resort closest to you with accommodation that best suits your budget.
  
  
• Equipment Rental. Our kids rent their skis, boots & poles. Until this year we rented from an on-mountain store because it's convenient and you can change the equipment if it is faulty. However, now the kids are older, and know how eg. their boots should fit, we rented in Cooma (Rhythm Sports). The kids rented Demo Twin-tip skis and buckle boots for half the price of the basic rentals in Thredbo. From 2008 I, too, will rent demo skis because it makes more sense than buying. I own my own boots because they are probably the most important piece of equipment after my helmet.
  
  
• Family Ski Day. This is the best day of the week where the kids show us how their skiing is going and show us where they skiied. We take them to lunch on the mountain and we build snowmen, make forts and generally muck around. At the end of Family Ski Day we adults pay our Lodge Manager an exhorbitant fee to mind all the kids while we go out to dinner.

This is what I can think of at the moment. Does anyone else have tips for happy family ski holidays?

Family Ski Day

Every year we schlep down to Thredbo for a family ski week with our ski-friendly friends. The kids go to full-time ski school while the adults challenge each other all day and tell stories about their skiing adventures all night. In an upcoming post I will publish the 2007 Thredbo Skiing Awards, but this post will show that it's not all hard-core skiing all the time.

On the last Saturday of our trip we have Family Ski Day where all the kids show us that they are better skiers than us, and most importantly, build the annual snowman.

This year was a slight departure from tradition as the theme was "Forts". The boys found an excellent rock/cave from which to stockpile snowballs and the girls made their own snow forts.















The boys then started a snowball fight but as KelpieBlossom pointed out that as the Geneva Convention and International Snowball Fighting Rules were not being adhered to we would have to abandon the battle and retire to the Merrits Mountain Hutte for lunch.















After lunch it snowed beautiful large snowflakes that we could catch in our hands.

Ski Instructors: It's Safe to Come Out Now

Domestic Goddess, Army Wife and I are such party animals. Our girls weekend away at Thredbo was marked with all night drinking binges and dancing to the wee hours. Not.

Seriously, we get four nights away from the kids and what do we do? Sleep. A lot. Firegazer had left a case of beer in the fridge at the lodge and I took down some really nice wine but we were happier with a cup of tea and a choccy bickie (AmE: Chocolate Cookie). Firegazer couldn't believe it. When I rang him one night he said "Oh, the poor wittle mummies are sitting around in their jammies and woolly socks". The sad thing was, we were.

However, it wasn't all tea and woolly socks.
















Two members of our ski party are pointing to the spot where we were caught in the worst weather I have ever experienced at Thredbo. We had just got off the Kosci Express and were heading down to the top of the Supertrail when WHAM! the worst combo ice storm/wind/white out hit us. Domestic Goddess managed to lie down in front of an overhang of snow but Army Wife and I took the full force of it.

When it was over we had a long recovery session involving schnapps at Black Sallees.

This is the same section of the Supertrail two days later looking all sweet and innocent.

After rough weather on the first day we had lovely sunny days for the rest of the trip. However, our ski instructor for days 2 & 3 may not have been having such a lovely time.

Domestic Goddess and I take private lessons on this w/e each year in the vain attempt to be able to keep up with our husbands, and now, our kids. Problem is I don't take to instruction too well. I really see the instructor as a paid tour guide and want him or her to take me to interesting bits of the mountain and show me how to ski them.

Poor Ales from the Czech Republic. He wouldn't take us anywhere interesting because he thought our short turns needed attention. They do, but I am an old dog and I hate new tricks. Ales was rewarded with much muttering under my breath and terse comments. So on day 3 I levelled with him and said I would be grumpy and surly if he continued to pick on my short turns. He said "excellent, bring it on". We saw eye to eye from that point on and I spent the rest of the morning attempting to listen to him. Grudgingly, I may have even learnt something.

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Things to love about Thedbo #1:
I love it that while most of the Alpine Responsibility Code signs are made of canvas and lashed to poles with rope, sign #9 is made of metal and bolted down.

9. Do not ski, snowboard, ride chairlift or undertake alpine activities if your ability is impaired by drugs or alcohol

This is the most coveted sign by uni students on scavenger hunts and many of these are known to decorate dorm rooms in Canberra.