Bella Skis on Valentine's Day

I won’t kid you, I woke a number of times through the night hopping mad about my ski dilemma. Somehow I still managed a good night’s sleep despite a racing mind. Realistically, I knew they’d correct the trouble, and most likely with little problem. But still… I woke for good around 700am. Sadly, the kids were already up making a measureable amount of noise. I tried to complete my morning routine before fetching Landon and waking Mindy. In addition, I checked the all important weather forecast. The radar was clear albeit with an overcast sky and the temperature hovering around 28 degrees. Bob said Mad River would be busy making snow all night. Cool! Early on at least, it was looking promising. I walked Ykraps soon after Mindy was up and around. I left for my run a short time later. I didn’t feel like we had a lot of time to waste. I ran only three miles just like most other ski days. I’ll get one hell of a work out on the mountain later. Back at home, Mindy ducked off to the shower. The wee ones reminded me of my promise to make cheese omelets. I obliged their request. I made enough for all of us, although Jacob said he didn’t want any. Mindy took a shower early so that I could run and then bolt for ASBCO. I saved part of an omelet for her, too. While waiting for Mindy to finish her shower, I continued to organize our ski gear. As soon as Mindy was ready I headed up for a shower of my own. I wasn’t long. I was downstairs and all but ready to head out the door by 9:15am. I spent a little more time organizing our equipment being careful not to forget anything critical to our comfort. Afterwards, I loaded our news skis and boots into the Trooper then dashed off for the Arlington ABSCO store at 9:30am. I arrived at 9:50am. They didn’t open until 10am. I waited patiently. Two employees showed up just before 10am. I soon followed leaving the skis temporarily behind. I kindly ask for some help and calmly explained my dilemma. Casey, the store manager, assured me that he’d take care of it quickly and efficiently. I left my paperwork sitting behind for him to glance over while I went to fetch the two sets of skis. I paced somewhat impatiently around the showroom while waiting for Casey to reemerge with our skis. I saw Jason, the first ABSCO sales guy I talked to a couple weeks ago. I felt bad that I didn’t return to buy skis from him. To make matters even worse, I saw my new skis were marked down even further this week - $40 cheaper. It didn’t take long. I was out of ABSCO by 10:15am. Casey assured me that had we not discovered our ski mishap at home and had to have an out-of-town ski-smith make the necessary adjustment, they would’ve covered our expense. He also said that the guy who signed off on our skis was their finest, most tenured. Said it happens only once or twice each year. Forgiven. I was home by 10:30am. Kara was already there and Jimaken pulled up just after me. He was there to pick-up Jacob, who was adamant about not going skiing. Kara would be watching Rocky & Landon. While Mindy tied up the loose ends in the house, I loaded our tuned/adjusted skis, boots, and poles into the Honda. We left for Mad River just before 11:00am. I stopped at Thornton’s to fill-up with gas. The drive up Rt 33 to Mad River was an easy one. We were there in 45 minutes. Noticeable right away was the severely diminished snow pack. There was bare ground everywhere but on the actual ski trails. We purchased our lift tickets and Bella’s lesson package before donning our new ski gear. We returned to the Honda after outfitting Bella in her rental gear. She looked so cute in her equipment. It was only 12:15pm, a full 1.25 hours before Bella’s lesson would begin. We did three runs on the bunny hill with Bella giving her as many pointers as we could. The whole time, I worried that we might inadvertently create/teach bad habits. I made Mindy aware of my concern. Collectively we decided to hold off on any more runs. It was still 45 minutes before lesson time. A few minutes later we spotted the Imber’s making there way over our way. We hung out there talking for a good 30 minutes. Eventually Mindy released me, and encourage all of us to go ski while she waited out the last 15 minutes with Bella. She’d join us at the main lift once Bella was handed off to ski class. We took a blue run in part to allow me to get comfortable with my new skis. They felt fine, but the snow was loose and granular making it somewhat difficult to give them a fair comparison. However, right away I could easily feel how much better the edges dug in as I carved my way down the mountain. Given the sloppy snow, I figured I’d have to wait until Holiday Valley to measure speed and feel. After about three runs we spotted Mindy waiting at the base of the main lift. The four of us skied together for the next two hours taking nearly all the varied trails. Comparatively speaking, we were all a bit more daring than we’ve been past. We hit several jumps, and even a few that I wasn’t even expecting. I caught some really good air but also busted my ass twice going over the jumps. I was leaning back too far on my landing. Ouch! To counter the loose, granular snow pack I found myself skiing with much of my weight favoring the back of my skis. I guess I didn’t readjust after hitting the jumps. Note to self. I fell a third time while doing the brush course. In all, I fell three times within about an hour. Prior to today, I had fallen only once all season, and that was while I was standing still waiting on Mindy at the bottom of a black Holiday Valley slope. But without question, I was being more aggressive, and taking chances I might not otherwise have taken. It was fun! Come 3:30pm we skied over to the bunny hill to fetch Bella. She was done and ready for some food. So were all of us. We made our way over to the main lodge/bar. We found a table to seat all five of us. Bob and Mary Ann treated us to a pitcher of Sam Adams and some homemade sandwiches. Mindy fetched Bella a hot dog and soda. We enjoyed the warmth of the lodge for about an hour. Bella, meanwhile, was eager to show us her stuff. Before that, however, she complained of her boots hurting. We determined that her boots were about a size too small. I went to fetch another pair, one size larger. The kid working the boot counter advised that we’d almost certainly need to have her skis readjusted too. Crap – I didn’t even think about that. What’s worse, once I got back to our table at the lodge Mindy discovered that I grabbed two left boots. Mindy agreed to do the exchange this time. I advised her that we’d have to have the skis adjusted too. We agreed to meet at the base of the triple chair. Bob talked Bella into riding the lift with us. I know, can anyone say, de javu? Mindy returned with Bella and the larger boots. She never did take the skis to be adjusted. And sure enough, they wouldn’t fit. I ran them back to the counter to have them resized for a size “13”. That took all of two minutes. Soon we ascended the mountain. Bella chose to ride with Mary Ann and Mindy. Bob & I lagged back one chair. I got a couple of pics of Bella riding her first lift. Bella disembarked from the lift with the same grace as her brother. Like him, she skied with much apprehension. She was nervous staring down the long winding hill, albeit an easy green. The truth is, it is no steeper than the bunny hill, but simply longer and winding. Bella did OK but also exhibited some of the same fear and reservation that Jacob did two weeks earlier. She fell often and when her legs got twisted she’d cry out in pain. Like Jacob, she gave up half way down the mountain. However, unlike baseball you can’t just walk off the mountain and go home. You still have to get down the hill. Eventually, I talked her into skiing down with me – between my legs. I handed my poles to Bob and used my arms to hold half of her body weight all the while allowing her to help steer and stop in unison with me. That worked well. She seemed to enjoy it. At the bottom of the hill, unlike Jacob, she asked to go up the bunny hill some more. At the same time, Mindy & Mary Ann went to do a few runs of their own. Bob stuck with Bella and I. Bella regained her confidence in a big way on the bunny hill. She refused our assistance getting on and off the magic carpet, and then proceeded to blow both of us away with her previously unseen ability to ski – turn, control, and stop. Wow! She must’ve did the run three times without any help and more often than not with out fail. Bob & I surmised that the larger hill was just too much for her to process, whereas the bunny hill, while just as steep, gives her the entire enchilada in one glance. Perhaps a lesson in elementary education. Mindy & Mary Ann skied up and caught one of Bella’s finer runs down the hill, turning and stopping without falling even once. We all celebrated. Perhaps a bit too confident, she went down one final time and bit it good, once again getting her legs twisted underneath her. She was ready to go. Honestly, we needed to go anyhow. It was already 7pm. Kara was expecting us home and both daughters, Ashley and Lindsey, were expecting us to visit. We thanked Bob & Mary Ann for hanging with us and wished them well on their coming ski trip. They, in turn, wished us well on ours. We were on the road by 7:15pm. At my prompting, Mindy called Lindsey and canceled her visit citing the late hour and the kids bedtime. Lindsey pushed back but we held firm. Not to be mean, but she should’ve planned the visit sooner. Hell, we could’ve saved $65 in childcare fees. We offered to pick her up for a Sunday visit. About the same time, Ashley called and canceled us picking up Olivia too. Made sense to both of us. We arrived home at 8pm. All of us were beat. I hurried to walk Ykraps who was waiting patiently by the door. Mindy paid Kara. She left even before I got back home with Ykraps. While Mindy jumped immediately into chores, I got the three older kids into the hot tub at Bella’s prompting. The skiing left her achy. I let them soak for about 15 minutes before calling them in. Looked like they were having fun. After we got the kids tucked into bed Mindy and I got in the hot tub. It felt terrific. I sipped a Jack & Coke while soaking. We headed to bed almost directly after a relaxing soak.