Damage from Brooklyn’s “activated charcoal” hand warmers. :)
It was another clear chilly morning… -22c. However, the children must be getting climatized to the temperatures. The Clubhouse was busier and noisier with parents adding clothing layers, inserting hand warmers, etc. Our “six pack” was out the door and uploading Creekside gondola shortly after 9:00am.
Remembering the problems holding poles last week, we parked them behind the snowmobiles. A race to the beaver bench got everyone warmed up. With a cat-like stance all the landings on jumps on the side of Expressway were excellent. We took the Garbanzo exit and made a hard left above Fitzsimmon’s onto Crabapple. It was a bit icy, but emphasizing “squishing bananas” and keeping hands in front, skis would bite and carve nice “Big-S” turns.
We read “Walter the Farting Dog” on our Village gondola ride to the Roundhouse. Hmmm… the Umbrella Bar has a new roof! Kids know the drill: skis on at the Olympic rings and regroup at the welcome pole. We tried something different on Green Acres. I had the kids do 6 “little-s” turns followed by 3 “Big-S” turns. Not bad! On the road to Emerald, all had to work on skiing on one ski. There was a few complaints about cold hands and feet. I promised we wouldn’t do any chair lifts, so more drills on Olympic to mid station.
From the Roundhouse, we did a bit of wall climbing into Upper Whiskey Jack. We cut left at the Chickpea and did the road to the jump above the Tree Fort. I tested the snow on the trek to the “Deidre Drop”… not bad, but will wait until we get more snow before challenging the kids on a drop. Ho hum… the bike trail chicane on Orange Peel is easy! We tucked the flats to Pony Trail and there was a few tears and grumbling about cold hands. Almost there team… we skied Bear Cub and there was a resounding “NO.O.O” to skiing down for lunch. So, after waiting about 5 minutes for “responsible adults” to assist downloading, liftie “Mike” volunteered and took Beckett and Riddley.
We were in the Minions building for our 12:15 lunch. Thick minestrone soup helped warm up Maleah’s frozen fingers. The ingredients for swamp water today didn’t sound appealing, so just apple juice. Out after our 45 minutes, there was no missing vests or FLAIKs today. YES!
Back up, we did Crossroads to Franz’s. Beckett had saucer eyes taking a jump and nearly launching himself off the road. “Experiential Learning” about speed control there, young guy! We repeated the route through Dave Murray to the bottom. I gave the kids a well earned free ski on the last pitch… as long as they demonstrated safe skiing and good turns. Up again for another lap.
At Raven’s Nest we devoured my stash of “Swedish Berries”. The kids are skiing much faster. Steve was wondering if our groups could do two more laps. My guess was we’d be early if we did one and have concerned parents if we did two… so opted for an early arrival and did some video to slow down our arrival.
Scotty put a tree poster in the Clubhouse with no leaves on it. Next week we’ll post leaves with some of our favourite thoughts. Next week is our Cross Over day… so adventures on Blackcomb (the “dark side” ). Star Wars costumes are encouraged. I’ll wear my Darth Vadar goggles.