On our week-long trip to the wintry Dolomites, the kids did a three hour lesson every morning, so Josh and I had that time to ski together. Then, after a quick lunch with the kids, we would ski all afternoon. I couldn’t believe how much energy those kids would still have after their morning lesson. I also couldn’t believe how good and fast they can ski.
On day five of the kids’ ski lesson, they had the chance to participate in a bona fide ski race. We went to the course at 11:30am to cheer them on. It was the real deal, with a starting gate, time keepers, a beautifully groomed piste and a finish line. We told the kids the night before to keep three simple rules in mind:
#1- Have Fun,
#2- Don’t Fall,
#3- Beat Lorenzo no matter what. Lorenzo was the class clown/pain in the butt, and rule #3 was just meant to keep things light.
Both Sylvie and Noah have inherited the competitive gene from their parents, so they were pretty fired up for the race. Noah went second in their class. He came flying out of the start, made two beautiful turns through the first two gates, then crashed spectacularly on his third turn, full yard sale, ski popped off, laying on the ground. I didn’t think he was hurt (they are too close to the ground already for me to fear their falls), but an instructor had to ski down and help him get his gear back together. It was a good moment to see him pop up and ski the rest of the course as fast as he co
uld.
Sylvie was next. She had watched her brother fall. She gave me a thumbs up, but I was wondering what was going on in her 8 year old mind. Was she more scared of falling now? If she was, I couldn’t tell. She calmly started her run, and never looked back. As she turned into a little speck towards the end of the piste, she had clearly gained speed and confidence as she had run the course.
At the awards ceremony the next night, Sylvie took first place on the podium. In her class of all boys, our little girl was triumphant. Noah did not make the podium. But, he did learn a valuable lesson. It was better to ski with all of his heart and not get a trophy, then to play it safe. He was mad about it, but proud to point out that he got back up and finished the race. Noah will probably remember that race for a long time. Even if he didn’t beat Lorenzo.