Ski Day and Hanging at the Quechee Club

We got our second day of skiing in, though it was just N and I as A&R had "girls day out" and the guys hit the slopes. I really enjoy skiing with the kids, regardless of whether it’s just one of both, but it is a lot of fun with the two of us. We get to spend quality time, followed by hot cocoa in the lodge.

The hill was fairly crowded, mainly because with the limited snowfall that we’ve had, there were only two runs open. Couple that with the holiday crowd and you have a recipe for disaster. The runs were so crowded, which is not the end of the world, but much of the crowds were young kids in ski school. That’s when you really have to be careful, because they really have little control over what they are doing and are in large groups, thus taking up lots of space.

It is, however, good practice in staying in control and maneuvering, and in this regard, N did a great job. He’s a good skier, though as I may have mentioned, much more cautious this season. Even in lieu of the crowds and long lift lines, we managed to get our fill of skiing. Then it was off the lodge for some beverages.

I must confess, it is rather interesting hanging out at the Quechee Club. It really has a club atmosphere, and you get to see the dynamic of well-to-do families. I find it fascinating, especially how some of the dads try so hard to hang with their kids, riding snowboards, wearing the garb and trying to talk the talk, though it’s a bit much when they sit there talking to their kids about how “sick” something is. Kind of embarrassing, actually.

Another things that struck me is how, for some of these families, the parents seem to either have no control over their kids, or no desire to have any control over their kids, and I think the Club is aware of this. Consequently, they offer more than enough avenues for the parents to unload the young ones and run off and do adult things, sans children. In fact, on more than one occasion I rode the chairlift up with parents who were making plans for New Year’s Eve in addition to the plans for where they were going to leave junior. Once again, the Club to the rescue.

I'm trying (failing?) not to be judgemental. I realize parents need time away from their kids to be adults and do adult things, but I get a sense that in their daily lives, some of these families do not necessarily spend that much time together, and now when they finally have a chance to spend some quality vacation time as a family, they can't get rid of each other fast enough. Oh well, who am I to say?

One final note, I was really shocked at how messy the place was. Again, I’m guessing it’s parents having no control over their kids, assuming that the virtual smorgasbord of food left to rot on the floor was left by kids and not adults, but you never know. The mess was amazing, and again, I’m surprised some parent didn’t tell their kids to either not make such a mess, or clean it up.

Then again, maybe it stems from the philosophy that when you join a club, you pay other people to deal with this stuff. Even still, there has to be some level of common decency, not to mention consideration. Plus, it’s not a good way to start young people off on the path to being upstanding citizens. Maybe it just encourages them to join clubs when they grow up.

I’m not complaining, merely reporting what I observed, because it was a fun day, and we love the Quechee ski hill and don’t take it for granted. So much so that we even clean up our own mess.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Jan Supa for the pic.