It begins!

Today, the kids and I drove to Wolf Creek ski resort east of Bayfield to build upon our downhill experience. I cannot expect to be in the back country tomorrow if we cannot apply simple downhill skills at a resort today.

Stage one: get them comfortable skiing downhill and learning the basics of snowboarding.

The pictures below are of a simple slope within Wolf Creek that the Nova chair lift accesses. The newbie slope is perfect for learning novice snowboarding skills and is ideal for Tyler and Brianna. Skiing only this lift costs $20 dollars and I felt a fairly reasonable price. Lessons are also available; however, the expense is now $60 dollars for lessons including the Nova lift, this seemed a bit more expensive and we decided not to attend the lessons.

Tyler and Brianna researched the web for the basics of snowboarding and felt comfortable applying their book knowledge. After I felt confident they were on a path of progression I decided to go explore the resort's more difficult slopes and it went better than I thought. What can I say, I am a stud.

I returned from the various slopes to check upon Tyler and Brianna. I noticed many snowboarding lessons were ongoing and I thought to myself "those suckers are paying so much for lessons, pfft. who needs them!". Tyler and Brianna smiled as I approached and excitedly informed me of their learning. "Dad, we have been sitting out of noticeable view from these classes instructors and picked up tips for free!" Oh boy, my brain spun and I had mixed emotions when I heard of their frugal action: one, I felt like a cheap bastard and two, I was quite impressed with their perseverance. Life goes on...

Here is Brianna: her first EVER day of snowboarding. Click any of the pics to view the full size image.


She already looks like a PRO!


Tyler and Brianna decided to do a synchronized downhill.


It was a BEA-utiful day, not a cloud in the sky!


Tomorrow we will be heading back for locals day; a cheaper price is a result of this special day! Rebecca will be with us displaying her downhill skills!