Alpine, bliss

It is no secret that Johno loves all things snow; snow shoveling, building snow caves, snow sledding, and of course skiing. he receives in the mail numerous magazines devoted to skiing and always reads them immediately when they arrive. Odin had "read" many ski mags with John and has been talking more and more about going to ski on the big mountain. So, since it was 20 degrees warmer today then a few days ago why not give it a try.

We took Odin skiing today, downhill, for his very first time. We had little expectation other than he have a good time. We thought he'd last about an hour. But apparently he had done his research. We were out about three and a half hours! Buck Hill, 15 minutes from our door, has a newly enhanced beginner area with two magic carpet lifts. After two runs on the little carpet Odin insisted on the bigger one. Then after one run on the big carpet he wanted to try the chair lift. All day he was a great sport and had a blast. He skied mostly between our skis, and we even let go of him a few times. Near the end of the day he was skiing next to John holding onto John's ski pole. His balance was surprisingly good, his enjoyment even better!
We took a bit of a gamble this morning deciding between a half day and an all day ticket. We ended up going for all day and took (or in John's case, are taking) turns going back this evening. It was a lovely day and well worth the money.

Since I met John his average number of skiing days has dramatically decreased. But then, we are no longer in college and he has a (gasp!) "real job" and oh yeah we live in Minnesota now. But I think he may be able to start bringing his average back up...