We are skiers. Not in the out West, big mountains, one full day to complete a run sense; but, in the Ontario drive a relatively short distance for too many hours in bad traffic and bad weather for small hills sense. I didn’t even know that powder skiing meant more than snow that floated just over the tops your skiis until I went to Whistler for my first big mountain ski trip in my twenties. After spending several hours trying to traverse a bowl which my ski-mates thought was beautiful and I just found incredibly frustrating, I realized that I am a very happy and quite sufficient Ontario skier. I like sunny, cold days with hard packed snow. I like to glide down the hill in my clunky, graceless not quite parallel turns, bundle up against the wind and pop back on the chair to do it again. Ontario skiing doesn’t make a lot of sense to our Albertan and B.C. transplants and visitors, but for our family at least, it’s not about the mountain, it’s about the lifestyle.
We ski at a ski club just outside of Collingwood. In order to do that and avoid the drive 4 times a weekend, we rent a small townhouse inside Collingwood. Every Friday afternoon we load kids, dog and homework into the van and head up north with the thousands of others who are leaving the city and clogging the highways. This winter has been especially snowy and after 5 years of finally coming to the realization that the drive is almost always safe, I have hit 3 trips with less than ideal visibility and am back to my paramoid winter driving state.
The advantage of the rental chalet is that all our ski clothes are there. As are our pajamas, weekend wear and a winter’s supply of pull-ups for the Gaffer so we rarely have to pack a bag. The disadvantage is that it is a two bedroom place and every other weekend we are a 6 person + dog family. Cupcake has chosen a winter of employment at the local drug mart over skiing and stays with her mom most weekends but everyone else trudges up and battles over who gets to sleep where.
An armchair quarterback sitting on the sidelines watching this family put itself through this routine each and every Friday may shake his/her head and whisper a not too soft "give it up, give it up." But check us out again Saturday morning at 10 and re-evaluate that thought. The Gaffer is at the on- hill nursery. We drop her at daycare by 9:30. They suit her up in all her equipment which is stored there in her cubby all week. They take her over to the bunny hill on a tobaggan and give her her lessons. Her dad swings by at the end of her lesson for a couple of runs and then the daycare staff take her back so she can eat snacks, play babies and watch movies while snoozing on a mat in the afternoon. Her brother, Mr. I Don’t Care is shredding across the hills in his snowboarding class with a group of rampaging 11 year olds. She Who Remains Blog-nameless feels too old for programs at the advanced age of 13 and started skiing too late to get involved in the racing program. She hangs with Mr. Husband and me and gets some personal parenting time while we all get a few morning hours of fresh air, exercise, hopefully sunshine and an appreciation of what a Canadian winter truly has to offer.
We have no video games on these weekends. There is limited computer access, but lots of board games and good food. We make pcinic lunches for Saturdays and buy cafeteria food on Sundays. We hang as a family, play a lot of Cranium and laugh and laugh at Daddy’s version of charades. Occasionally we trek over to the Plunge pool at Blue Mountain and languish in the outdoor hot tub, especially after Momma has had a particularly nasty wipe out. This winter I forgot I was 41 and decided to learn how to snowboard. My tailbone still hasn’t forgiven me!
Ontario skiing is fraught with traffic, weather, icy conditions, crowded hills and limited runs. But it also lends itself to winter activity and intimate family time. Having one child who is starting to separate from us already in her hurry to be a grown up, reminds me of how fast it truly does happen and wrapping an occasional snow-laced cocoon around our family, lighting a fire and complaining about who gets the top bunk seems as good a way as any to slow it all down.
We love to ski but rarely get the chance. It is a joy to spend a day together outside in the winter!
Elizabeth, I cherish skiing for all the same reasons as you, only our family is blessed to be able to do it in the rockies out here in Alberta. You’ve really captured the joy of FAMILY skiing in your post. Thanks!