What a cheery group arriving this morning! Maleah had new skis and boots… Scotty let me know that Axel wasn’t going to be with us today. Too bad. :( A table top, small jump and rainbow arch have been set up at the CLC for a little competition with the village and Blackcomb Kinder Kids groups.

The “wolf pack” was out the door at 9:00am sharp and it was a routine ride up the gondola and Red chair. We regrouped at the light board and spent some time holding pole straps properly. All are getting it but not easy for little hands in big mitts.

We skied into Ego Bowl stopping at the terrain park across from the table top. No one was in the park to attempt it, but I gave a couple of hints: no pizza stances and give a “pop” off the box. The bumps were a little firm into Cougar Trail so, just emphasized “squishing bananas” in turns and Maleah led the pack through all the jumps on the side of the run to the Emerald chair.

Kids demonstrated good carving on Olympic exchanging positions leading the class. Finley took the pack on the last stretch to the entrance at the CLC. The hike up to the magic carpet was a good herring bone and side stepping drill. That sure got everyone warmed up!

We were fortunate to arrive early enough to get one practice run over the box and rainbow arch. By the time we got back up the magic carpet there were village and Blackcomb Kinder teams there. Lots of shouts of encouragement from all the instructors. Yay! Doug’s Creekside class won the first leg of the “Triple Crown” competition.

We skied Crabapple to the village. There were lots of interesting jumps on the side of the run. Bent knees to absorb, hands up and in front resulted in no splats the whole run! We read Robert Munsch’s “Mud Puddle” on the gondola ride up.

Skis on at the Olympic rings, another wack at Roundhouse Roll got a thumbs up. We took the first entrance through the trees today: more fall line skiing on that route. Confidence and skills improving!! To the Chickpea we went: hockey stops, side slipping forward and backwards (falling leaf) then skated the flats to Orange Peel with our hands behind our backs. “Little-S” turns an the left side of Orange Peel then tucked to Dave Murray followed by 360s on the snow to Bear Cub and some big jumps. Maleah, Soldis and Beckett had good splats: experiential learning! From the Roundhouse to Raven’s Nest, it was all drills and the wolf pack didn’t even realize it… :) Skis parked, we were down for our 12:30 lunch.

Back up to the Roundhouse, the clock said 1:50… I had plans of doing a bump run in Green Acres but had to rethink that one because of the time. So… had Finley lead the class as fast as he could to Upper Whiskey Jack. Good job young man! We did Big-S turns to the Chickpea with some behind-and-below tests… much better but should be automatic by now. Skis off at the Chickpea, whiskey jacks checked us out as we enjoyed some dried mangoes. Skis on, we crossed the road to Banana Peel and through the bike chicane above the Tree Fort. The fort is still closed because of the large crevasse. We repeated this morning’s route through Bear Cub. Way to go team: much better control through the jumps and down for our 2:45 sign out. My Ski Tracks app said we did 18.3 km; 3,635 m and 5 runs.

Hard to believe, but we are half way though our season together! I’ll have progress cards for your children next week. Our theme is Let’s make and “Epic Promise”. From Scotty’s notes: the mountains we live in and our community give us so much, it’s time to learn and to give back.