Progress Report

Another amazing weekend in Tahoe with our big man. It is so much fun to watch him progress and, as with all things this age, it happens so fast it's like watching time-lapse photography. He jumped in on Saturday morning and, after a few turns, picked up right where he left off a few weeks ago. His turns are considerably sharper and the difference in his competency between our last trip and this one is like night and day.

Although he definitely OD'd on mac-n-cheese (dinner Friday night, lunch Saturday and almost dinner Saturday as well), the first clip below is not a side effect. He's working on getting comfortable unweighting his uphill ski. "Pizza" in the turns and "french fries" while traversing. I have no doubt that, assuming we keep up the frequent trips, he'll be parallel skiing in no time.

He also became quite fascinated (as we all did) with the boy in the blue helmet (participant #1 in the second clip below--Max is #2). (Again, my apologies for the horrible camera shake. You may want to pop some Dramamine before viewing.) The little dude couldn't have been any older than 7 and was pulling consistent 360's. Max was hooked on the terrain park after discovering it Saturday afternoon and this only served to solidify his commitment to discovering air.

Our buddy Josh stopped by to see how things were going and, after a few more runs with him, we finally convinced Max to head back up the big mountain. I was so impressed with him as the conditions were absolutely terrible and he handled it like a champ. The "run" we took him on amounted to a semi-narrow catwalk that was practically sheer ice (we're talking kids on skates in Central Park ice). It wasn't that short and was steeper in places than what he's accustomed to skiing. I was out in front the entire way down, ready to catch him when he lost control and started sliding for the edge (which I was certain was going to occur). Not only did he totally remain in control, he didn't panic once. I stopped a few times to ask him how he was doing and he told me to get out of his way.

The last clip pretty much sums it up. He's wants to do everything on his own (put his boots on, ride the lift, etc...). I've got a sneakin' suspicion that I had better enjoy skiing with him while I can. Hitting the slopes with dad will surely be too pedestrian in the not too near distant future.