There have been ups and downs this season, starting with Cienna wrecking her very first race. But she rebounded nicely by coming in 1st place in the Lake City downhill.
It was at that moment that we realized that all of the long drives, late nights and (sometimes) tears were so worth it. She was not only getting better...she was thriving. She made some new friends and so did we. We learned how to streamline our ski day process by pre-planning breakfast, packing our own lunch, arriving early and having the kids carry their own gear!
Last weekend was the last "official" race of the season and once again a valuable lesson came from it. (Actually 2 valuable lessons came from it.) Wolf Creek hosted the event and asked for parental volunteers to help with all aspects of the race, from setting up the course, providing lunch, registering racers, finding donations for the raffle, etc. Since we were in Florida the weekend before we did not get the list until we got back. By then the only job left was "gatekeeper." No one told us that gatekeeper meant standing on the steepest part of the mountain in your ski boots for 4 hours while radioing in any falls, gates down, etc. I was...how do you say...MISERABLE. Tony on the other hand made the best of his flat position by and I quote "digging himself a fox hole" hunkering down and drinking beer that he had brought with him. He kept shouting at me to "come down to his fox hole" to hang out while I was taking my job seriously as skier after skier continued to wipe out or almost wipe out right near my post. I was...how do you say...WANTING TO KILL HIM. Lesson learned. No more gatekeeper for me!
Cienna learned what it felt like to be Ms. Universe for a second. After posting the results in front of God and everyone showing Cienna in 2nd place, another parent quickly realized that the times near the bottom were quicker than the times near the top. She actually got 4th place. After a few tears, I told her the story about Ms. Universe and how they had announced her as the winner and gave her the crown and the flowers and then "ooops! I read it wrong! Give me that crown back and those flowers while your at it!" She started to smile and agreed that it would have been much worse to have been standing on the podium wearing the medal when they said "just kidding!" Another valuable lesson learned.
It was a great season for all of us. Even AJ rebounded nicely after loosing one of his skis on his 2nd day of skiing (they told us to come back when the snow melts.) He learned not to lie when you have a GoPro on your helmet recording everything. Or maybe he learned not to wear a GoPro. You would have to ask him. But after going on a run with sister, breaking off the trail and ending up in the parking lot, coming up with a story about someone "pushing him" down that way and then realizing that the entire event was recorded, he had to have learned some lesson. We will forever make fun of him for that video and most importantly "It's A Trap!" He will never live that one down. Ever.
Without Tony I could not have done it. I would like to think that without me he would not have been able to do it. But most likely he would have been fine because he's a much better driver than I am in the snow and the kids are scared of him. Still, I couldn't have asked for a better partner this ski season or in life.
Awesome season our "Lil Ripper!"
