Say Yes to the Mountain...

I had a happy birthday surprise last weekend.  Reid and my parents gave me a weekend getaway to Sugar Mountain for a day of skiing.  I was instructed to have all my work finished for my J-Term class by 4:00 pm because we were getting in the car to head to Banner Elk, NC.  We arrived there late that evening, and stayed in a lovely one-bed room condo at the very top of the mountain.  The signs at the bottom said "Snow Chains or Four Wheel Drive Required." Oops.  Thankfully it didn't snow and the roads were fine, so our little Passatt made it up and down from our condo just fine.

When Reid finally told me were going skiing, I was excited but a little disappointed all at the same time.  While I was looking forward to spending time with him and had been itching for a chance to ski this season, I know that the two didn't really go together.  Reid doesn't ski.  We've been once, and I left with a bloody lip.  No, he didn't punch me...at least not on purpose.  His first time off the chair lift we had a little collision, and I was injured...injured bad.  Well, not really.

Anyway, I was nervous about how skiing would go, but Reid knew how much I love the sport, so when I asked if he wanted to take a lesson, he agreed.  Saturday morning we signed him up, and Doug, the ski instructor, and he went off to the beginner slopes. I headed off on my own to explore the other trails.

When I met Reid later, he had learned to get off the lift with no problems having done it twice during his lesson.  He had also learned to "Say Yes the Mountain" which is Doug's way of teaching beginners to crouch down in the skis instead of stand up.  As Reid and I skiied together for the rest of the day, he was definitely saying yes to that mountain.  By closing time, he was skilled at turning, stopping, avoiding obstacles, and getting off the ski lift injury-free.  He is raring to go for another trip. Yay! I'm looking forward to more ski adventures with him.