Skiing (and snowboarding to some extent) are going intergenerational. In a world where parents have neither the time nor money to take their kids skiing, grandparents are clicking into their skis and taking their grandkids to the slopes. Grandparents with both time and money, for the most part, can have a wonderful experience of teaching, eating, talking and playing with their grandkids and vice versa.
If you look, you’ll notice them everywhere. It could be grandfathers patiently skiing with granddaughters, who are all dressed in pink, on the lower slopes at Stratton, on the beginner trails of Sunday River and taking their first turns at Mt. Sunapee. Or you’ll find grandmothers trying to keep up with their grandsons in powder at Brighton, sliding across the learner area at Sunshine or pointing to the big mammoth at Mammoth Mountain.
Whatever the combination, grandparents skiing, or even trying snowboarding, with their grandchildren is a natural – at least in the beginning, when the children are still going slowly enough for the grandparents to keep up with them.
I’ve had the opportunity for the past two winters to take my grandson, Phinneus Lucy, on a couple of weekend ski trips. Just Phinneus and I. It’s a true adventure for both of us.
Besides the fact that December is an especially busy time for his parents and they need some help (and I love to spend time with my grandson), I have an ulterior motive. Because skiing is a sport that family members can enjoy together no matter what their ages, I’m counting on Phinneus being there to ski with me when I turn 70 (and 80, too, if he’ll go slowly enough).
Last year, at age 3-1/2, he took his first turns at Bretton Woods and we stayed at the “big hotel,” as he called it — the wonderful Mt. Washington Hotel, which truly was never so grand as when I saw it through his eyes. Even the antique elevator with its uniformed, friendly attendant was a true adventure.
This year, we traveled over to Vermont to try out the more modern Jackson Gore complex at Okemo.
A whole new ski experience
The world has certainly changed since I took my three children to learn to ski back in the 1970s, and all the more so at a ski resort like Okemo. Decades ago, both my kids and I started with leather boots — they had buckles instead of laces and the skis were taller than us. Oh, the process of getting us all ready to ski was painful to say the least.
Now, with lightweight fleece (no they didn’t have it back then!) for warmth, step-in bindings, shaped skis, plastic, one-buckle boots, and helmets for both warmth and protection, while it still isn’t easy to get a child all geared up to ski, it is not quite the process it used to be.
Learning to ski has never been so easy. First, there areplenty of choices for kids (and adults, too). Last year, I had Phinneus take a short, private lesson to get him started. His total fascination with the enthusiastic, young instructor and her unending patience, was enough to get him to take a few turns and think skiing was pretty neat, if the ever-present smile on his face meant anything.
This year, his year of “maturity” had brought an independent streak with it and “no” and “I no want to” were uttered many more times than I care to remember. Thank goodness that 1) everything was conveniently within easy walking distance in the main complex, and 2) for the patient, caring staff at the Okemo ski school, who guided me to what seemed to be the best choice for Phinneus — a morning in the day care center, but with a one-hour group ski lesson with his peers. Going out skiing with the children he had just spent an hour playing with took away his stubbornness and, as I observed (from afar, of course), brought out his desire to keep up with his new “friends” when on the slope.
He was thrilled enough with his lesson to get on the chairlift with Nano, as he calls me, and ski down beside me, holding on to my ski pole for a semblance of control, and literally laughing all the way to almost the base, where he got enough nerve to go on his own. Since the result was sore muscles and back for me despite the fun of hearing him laugh, my next choice for a lesson is going to be a family lesson, where the instructors teach me (and his parents, too) the best way to ski with him and help him learn.
Much more than skiing
My other big discovery at Okemo was that there is a lot more for kids to do at a ski area these days than just ski.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with taking youngsters to nearby, smaller ski areas instead of big resorts when they are just learning. They tire easily (as do their grandparents!) so a couple of hours skiing is more than enough to necessitate naptime and being in your own bed is as good as any.
Over the past few years, I’ve discovered the plethora of spas that have sprung up at ski resorts to pamper the aging Baby Boomers (and the younger crowd) who enjoy snow sports and Okemo is no different.
It was with Phinneus, however, that I became aware of the many “amenities” for the youngsters, too. Saturday night movies let parents or grandparents enjoy a dinner out sans children. Indoor and outdoor swimming pools with slides geared for kids of all ages and with a welcome hot tub nearby for adults provide endless entertainment. Game arcades provide blinking lights, noise, bongs and bells. The latter was Phinneus’ favorite. Seeing as I used to scream playing PacMan, I was completely surprised that I could enjoy sitting astride a simulated snowmobile with my grandson, racing against a variety of unsavory characters at breakneck speeds through the countryside. We could hardly walk by the arcade without heading in for just one game.
Grandparents out there — if you’ve ever skied, do your children a favor and consider making the effort to pass a love of this active, outdoor, lifetime sport on to their children, your grandchildren. Everyone, especially your grandchildren, will be glad you did. Going skiing with grandchildren is definitely tiring — I went to sleep each night when my grandson did – but it could help you experience being a kid again and provide memories that will certainly last a lifetime.
For a quick overview of kids’ activities and lessons at the top destination resorts in North
America, check out our resort list at skisnowboard.com. Take a look at our Top 10 lists and plan you trip. Whether heading to the slopes for an afternoon, a weekend or a week, the time you spend as an extended family is priceless.
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