Great Day at the Skiway

We went to the Skiway the other day and had mixed luck on our day, ending, though, on a bright note. First off, the weather was cold and snowy. The last time we were there it was freezing cold and we all suffered accordingly. This time around, cold again, though this time with continual snow throughout the day. I realize we are skiing and snow is a good thing, but it often makes visibility difficult, and it seems to coat the lift chair and make my pants wet. Wah, wah, wah.

Either way, the place was empty at first, and we pretty much had the hill to ourselves, though again, I prefer to have some human contact. It’s a bit eery when we’re the only ones on the hill. Well, I got my wish later in the day when the local schools arrived through the Ford Sayre program, and then things got interesting.

Though the crowd increased 5-fold, it still wasn’t that bad, and the lift line was maybe two or three groups deep, at the most. The problem they ran into was more of an organizational nature. The group did not have enough chaperones for the number of kids going up, so the moms were scrambling at the bottom to find an adult that would ride up with their group. Naturally, they pegged me, though I had A&N, so I could only take one of their kids. As intense as they were, I have to give the moms credit, they were getting it done, approaching any and all adult strangers to help out. Kudos to them.

The cold got to be unbearable at some point, and we had to go to the lodge to thaw out, and of course, hang out with the moms hanging out and exchanging organic brown rice crispy recipes. I’d never been inside the lodge before, and as you can imagine, it was nice. We also had the brilliant idea of getting some glove liners and hand warmers, mainly for A, who really suffers from cold hands. Wet gloves don’t help.

The hand warmers were fantastic, those things are amazing. You don’t need a lot of heat just to keep your hands from freezing, and somehow those things work. All they need is exposure to the air, and according to the label, they are all natural. Not quite organic, but no toxic chemicals, which surprised me. Just iron, charcoal, and salts, made “responsibly” in China, no less. Not sure what to make of that.

Either way, they saved us, and we were able to ski for the rest of the day. I was thinking that they would come in handy for my feet, which get incredibly cold when I ski, so I’ll look into that. We had a nice ski day, and because the school program was there, the hill was open late, until 4:30, allowing us some extra ski time. We stopped for hot cocoa afterward, and then it on to home where I still had to whip up some supper, which is not easy when you’ve got to unload all the ski equipment, get it drying near the fire, and then clean up the mess that we’ve made in the mudroom before mom gets home.

All performed, of course, under the influence of extreme exhaustion, but I’m not complaining. We got to skiing, and you do what you gotta do to get it done.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Paniti Marta for the pic.