After going off on adults only ski trips the previous weekend, we scaled back to Isaac size trips this weekend. Saturday, my parents, Isaac and I went to the local cross country ski area, Windblown. Tyson stayed home because he was feeling sick and wanted to get a few things done.

Isaac skiing with grandparents

It was a nice sunny winter day and the trails were well groomed, so an excellent opportunity for Isaac to ski. He rode the pulk up to the top of the teaching field. There, he was willing to slide back down the gradual slope with Grandma and Grandpa holding his hands. He rode the pulk back up the first few times. Then he decided he could help ski up. At some point he figured out it was easier to ski in the track. With the exception of a few moments skiing uphill, he insisted on someone holding his hands the whole time. Given his prior resistance to me teaching him to ski, I stuck to taking photos and providing encouragement. We skied on the teaching field for about half the morning.

I brought my skate skis, so I was simultaneously practicing my technique. I am pretty sure I regressed since my first PSIA class. I feel significantly less efficient. There were a few mistakes I caught myself making, and more practice would help clear those up, but they were not enough to explain all of my inefficiency.

Come lunch time, Isaac skied all the way back down to the lodge. He even figured out that he could just slide while the grandparents pulled him across the flat. That’s a big improvement over the first time he went skiing when he insisted on walking down the hills.

Isaac asleep

Tyson joined us for lunch in the lodge. After lunch our plan was to put Isaac in the pulk for a nap, and the rest of us ski at a more adult pace. Isaac seemed OK with this plan until we returned outside. We put him in the pulk despite his protests, and he fell asleep immediately.

View

I continued using my skate skis, but took first stint pulling the pulk. I remember pulling the pulk last year and it not being too hard, but this time I kept having to stop to huff and puff. That’s some of why I think I have forgotten technique. My parents took their turns pulling the pulk too. We skied out to the outer edges of the ski area; Valley View, Turn Around Trail, up very steeply to East View Crossover for the view and the fun run down the open slope. Trail map. My Dad was pulling the pulk when we skied down Open Slope and discovered the pulk stopped him from turning with it attached to his pack. So he went back up solo to try again. My skate skis are actually quite controllable on groomed snow.

Snack stop

While we paused at the bottom, Isaac woke up. He requested to sit on the hay bales in the shelter and eat, what seemed like, an endless stream of granola bars. Tyson flew overhead on his way to Jaffrey to fuel up. We all waved, but he didn’t see us.

Isaac nose dive

Isaac wanted to ski again, so we slowly made our way back to the main lodge. We needed to cover a bit of terrain. I pulled the empty pulk and my parents helped Isaac down the hills and pulled him up the hills. He insisted on stopping to check out the warming lodge on the way. Back almost at the teaching field, we were hoping to follow the contours around on Spring Hill, but Isaac declared we had to ski straight up the hill. On the glide back down the other side, Grandpa thought Isaac was ready to ski unaided. Unfortunately, Isaac gave up as soon as he lost his support and nose dived. He recovered after a little TLC and nose warming.

It was a good day. We all had fun, and my parents could still stand up at the end.