Kids can learn faster from instructors and moms and dads get some free time!
Cover photo courtesy Bri Loveall
I’ve got to be honest: I’ve been dreading teaching my kids to ski. I never seem to make it to a ski swap in time to secure good deals on gear, and, with three kids at home, the cost of rentals, tickets, and lessons has always been just a little outside of our budget. Plus, the idea of schlepping my kids up to the mountain, hauling bags of snacks and water bottles and spare clothes, was a mental barrier.
I’m sure there are plenty of parents out there who have successfully coached their kids into becoming stellar skiers and boarders, and to those parents who have done it, snow hats off to you. But for my own kids, ages four and seven last winter, I knew I was going to need to recruit outside help.
Enter Club Shred, Mt. Spokane’s own Friday night ski club for younger novice skiers. Club Shred takes kids ages 4 to 10 and provides them with a full evening of skiing, crafts, movies, and dinner. It was the perfect opportunity for my kids to try out skiing with the bonus of a date night thrown in for my husband and me.
On a cold Friday afternoon in February, I packed snow gear, picked the kids up from school, and drove the quick 45 minutes to the mountain. We checked in at guest services, got them fitted for rental gear, and then my husband and I dropped our kids off at the kid’s club. All the while I worried that my kids would lose their gloves or struggle with their boots, or fall and refuse to get up (a likely scenario for at least one of my children).
Dear reader, I can assure you that I had nothing to fear. While my husband and I spent some quality time night skiing, stopping for a half hour to watch the sunset at Vista House, and enjoying live music and a beer, my kids did lap after lap on the bunny hill before stopping for dinner (chicken tenders and fries), then returning outside.
By the time 8 p.m. rolled around, our seven-year-old daughter was able to ski the bunny hill without falling over. She beamed with pride. Our four-year-old son was playing tag in the snow with an instructor, his skis discarded to the side. Both were ruddy-cheeked, their hair wet and plastered to their sweaty foreheads. When we returned the rental gear, the staff had hot chocolate with marshmallows waiting for our kids, who both slurped it down while eagerly telling us all about their evening.
Over the next month and a half, we attended a few more times. One Friday, after picking up the kids and their customary hot cocoa, a ski instructor pulled me to the side to tell me my son hadn’t been interested in skiing that day. I asked if he’d played outside anyway, and the instructor said he had. Perfect, I exclaimed. He was doing exactly what he was supposed to: having fun while building his cold tolerance; learning how to play in the snow even when he was wet and tired.
Ironically, the things I’d been dreading (schlepping my kids around, packing an insane amount of extra clothing) became a non-issue when the pressure of teaching my kids to ski was removed. Instead, I sat on the sidelines, watching my daughter learn to navigate her skis and the joy in my son’s face when he finally managed to turn as he slid off the magic carpet. And when they inevitably fell, an instructor was quick to right them, no tears or shouts for mom and dad.
Sponsored by SNWR
