My younger daughter is very cautious and deliberate about trying new things.  We’ve been encouraging her to attempt skiing for a few years but she protests.  I don’t want to be a Tiger mom so I would just occasionally suggest it, gently, as a possibility but there has been zero interest.  Until Monday.  When she declared that she was going to learn to ski on Wednesday.  Not wanting to miss this opportunity, I packed her up, brought her over to the mountain, rented her skis and expected to spend an hour picking her up repeatedly until she called a hot chocolate break.  This is not what happened.

This little dynamo tired of skiing the baby hill I had her on so quickly and set her sights on the Jbar.  Completely unintimitated.  I said, “You need to learn how to get up when you fall first.”  Within minutes that was accomplished.  “Let’s watch the kids get on the Jbar so you know how to do it” was met with 5 minutes of intense study followed by queueing for a go at it.  I told the Jbar operator that it was her very first time and he gave her terrific instructions and off she went.  When a new snowboarder caused the line to stop, my girl briefly entertained second thoughts but my encouragement prevailed.  I don’t know how she mustered the courage to ski herself down that hill but she did.  She popped right up after every fall and within 3 hours of the very first time she ever put skis on her feet we were timing her descents (20 seconds) like she was Lindsey Vonn.  I’m not sure how I didn’t burst from the pride but I am in awe of her little courageous self.  And I may be opening a ski school soon.