Homeschool Skiing

We have been getting a fair amount of skiing in recently, and one of the reasons is because we enrolled in homeschool skiing. It's a great deal at a great ski hill, and it makes me wonder why we didn't do it in the first place. The program has been running for several years, I've received the emails in the past and didn't think it would work out. Part of the problem is that it's in the middle of the week and the hill is a little far away, but that has turned out not to be a problem.

The program is down in NH at Sunapee, which seems like it's so far away. Even the name evokes exotic locales and far off places. Sunapee is located down by Newport, NH, which is actually close to where we once got stranded on our way home from vacation. It is a pretty well known hill and on the bigger side, at least bigger than what we're used to. When you ski S6 and Quechee, anything and everything is big. In the past it didn't seem logistically possible to get ambitious with skiing because we have hockey all week long.

This year I decided to give it a go, partly because a friend said it was a great program and her son loved it, though for the record, they did not do it this year. The program is a bargain and ends up being around $10/day for each child. The only catch is that they have to take a lesson in the AM, after which they are free to ski. The kids were always resistant to the lesson idea, so we passed on it. This year, however, I figured they could take a snowboarding lesson and ski for the rest of the day. This has worked out beautifully for a number of reasons.

First, they are learning to snowboard, which I don't think is as fun as skiing, but it has the cool/dude factor, which is important to young people. Second, it allows us to ski on a new hill, and an awesome one, at that. Third, it's with a group of friendly kids, so there's a social aspect to it. And finally, it's a bargain, and that speaks volumes to me. I get a break if I chaperone, and I'm happy to do that.

We've gone twice and have been really enjoying it. The kids are learning to board, which for whatever reason we have avoided up until now. They've had the boards for at least a year, they just were not inspired to go for it. I collected the necessary components over the years at thrift stores, the dump, and yard sales, and eventually the snowboards came together, and they're not pieces of junk. They have good brand-name components, just a little on the older side, but not too old. It's nice because I could take my time finding the stuff and were ready to hit the ground running. I love when that happens.

The great thing about it is they get to try something new and learn the ropes, but still do the thing they love and are good at, so it makes the day challenging but still fun and exciting. Don't you love when that happens? I know I do.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Tjarko Evenboer for the pic.