2007-1-14 Downhill skiing

We went on the first ever Bloom family ski day at Welch Village about 40 miles south of here. Even though there has been very little snow in the area (less than 6 inches for the year, the ski areas are making snow and have all their runs and lifts open. You can see that beyond the ski area, everything is brown and bare.



None of us have very much experience skiing, nor do we have equipment, so we rented it there. This was Hailey's first time ever, and Ray and LeAnn haven't skied for about 20 years. Mariah and Kara both skied for the first time with their school's ski club.

After learning how to go up the chair lift and few trips down the short hill, we were feeling good about tackling something bigger.

Ray went up the big lift first to scout out some possible routes down to match abilities. Ray, Kara and Mariah were the first to attack the larger hill, although still at a beginner level. Soon Hailey and LeAnn were to follow. We started to spread out and try some different runs with varying difficulties. Everyone had a great time and no injuries were sustained, just some sore, aching muscles. The hardest part of the whole experience was walking around with our ski boots on in a permanent forward leaning position.

Towards the end of the afternoon as it was starting to get dark, it started to snow. The small flakes would sting the cheeks and make it hard to see as they got in your eyes on the way down the hill. this was supposed to be the start of a 5"-8" snowfall overnight. Unfortunately from the kids viewpoint, there will be no snow day as it is already a holiday on Monday for Martin Luther King Day.


Kara is looking forward to her next ski club outing this Thursday as she will tackle larger hills than she did her first time out last week. Hailey will be going skiing with her 5th grade class next month and is looking forward to going again now that she has some experience.