2022-2023 Ski Season Wrap Up

We just wrapped up a fantastic ski season. Big Bro was the MVP, skiing and progressing the most. But Middle Bro had amazing improvements too, and was doing significantly better than how Big Bro did at age 3.

Our first skiing session of season was Dec 28, 2022. It was a big mistake to come during the winter holidays for multiple reasons: the parking lot was jam packed so badly that it took us more than 1 hour to find a spot. Then I realized I forgot my season pass and had to pay for a day ticket at full price. Then we had big lines to contend with both uploading the tram and for the chairlifts. To cap it all off, the line down the tram was more than 1 hour long. I asked people in the line in disbelief, and confirmed that it was indeed the line to go down. We actually went to the Chalet’s theater and watched a full movie (Elf) to try to wait out the line, but it was equally bad when the movie finished. All told, it was 8:30pm by the time we got back to our car. Thankfully, Big Bro was such a good sport he enjoyed the whole process before passing out in the car.

Line up to the rental hut

We went on a total of 3 ski trips to Whistler this season, the first one documented here. Whistler is expensive, but the incredible skiing always reminds us why we love it so much.

7th Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain

We started night skiing with Big Bro. Our routine: 3pm pick up from school. 3:30pm Big Bro finish his snack in the car and takes a nap. Around 4:30pm he finishes his nap in the parking lot and we head up the tram. In the first few night ski sessions, we only averaged about 1 hour per night, which seemed hardly worth the drive. Thankfully the length of time for our night ski sessions got longer as the season went on. In the last session of the season we skied until the resort closed at 8pm (3 hours)! Big Bro also got an additional boost whenever his favorite Big Sis was with us.

Skiing with Big Sis usually gives Big Bro 50% energy boost.

Big Bro went from being hesitant on The Cut at the beginning of the season, to achieving solid parallel turns by the end.

Middle Bro also got his pizza turns down fairly solid, but he still lacks the stamina that Big Bro has built over the last 3 years skiing.

Their impressive progress has led to some interesting discussion among our Outdoor Family, namely: is it better to commit most of our time and energy to one hobby/sport and see how well our child can do, or to spread out and sample many different things for a more well-rounded childhood?

Since Big Bro is getting close to the ceiling of group lessons offered to casual skiers (with his parallel turns, he is considered level 5 in the Ski Wee program on Grouse), so if we want to help him continue to progress, it’ll soon have to be with much more expensive private lessons. Yes I will ski with him as much as I can, but a lesson with a real ski instructor beats hours of casual skiing with me.

There’s also Grouse Tyee Ski Club, where kids at his age and skiing ability get put into rigorous training with the goal of becoming competitive at the highest levels. It’s big commitment, starting with twice weekly skiing and goes up from there. It will most likely become the all-consuming winter activity, and it even has the potential of spilling over to the summer months if we get to that level of competitiveness.

Of course we can ask the kids what they would like to do, and we do ask them all the time. But they are so malleable and impressionable at this stage, it’s hard to tell whether they truly like the activity above all others, or it’s because that’s what we like to do as the parents. (It’s telling that Big Bro’s top favorite activities are skiing, camping, biking and paddleboarding…)

After thoughtful consideration, I think we will continue to invest time and energy into skiing. To do otherwise would mean to put a damper on Big Bro’s enthusiasm for skiing, a sport that is clearly building his confidence, resilience, and strength.