We make it up to Oregon about every other year around Christmas. In the past we have gone tubing and sledding, but this year I wanted Max to learn to ski or snowboard. I didn’t really care which, but I wanted him to have some professional instruction.
The nearest ski area to Eagle Crest Resort is Hoodoo. Hoodoo has a Mountain Cubs program for kids under 6 years and a Junior’s program for kids under 12. We saw on Google Maps that it was only about 25 miles from our resort, so I figured that 45 minutes would cover the travel time. I also planned for 30 minutes before the classes started to get the kids signed up and fitted for rentals. With the classes starting at 10a, I wanted to leave at 8:45a. At 8:30a (when they opened), Toby called, just to make sure the class wasn’t full. The person she talked to said that we should arrive 1 hour before the class and that the travel time would be closer to an hour. He didn’t think we would make the morning class, even if we left right away (which we would not be able to do).
So instead of running around screaming at each other feeling under the gun, we leisurely got ready for the afternoon classes (1p). Toby had done a great job of borrowing snow clothes for everyone, so there was a lot of preparations to make sure we had everything for both kids. My plan had been that I would snowboard during the kid’s instruction and Toby wanted to be available for Lucy.
Our GPS had us taking some crazy small side roads. Since it had recently snowed, neither Toby nor I wanted to be taking these types of still-iced roads. So we winged it and just followed the highway signs (per the Google map). We got there with about an hour and 15 minutes to prep the kids. Even with all that time, by the end, we didn’t have any extra minutes; the kids were right on time.
In the running back and forth between Mountain Cubs and Juniors, I lost track of Max. I had placed him in the instruction area, and he and I had talked to an instructor in the area. I left him under the ‘Snowboarders- beginner’ sign, and when I returned after getting Lucy signed in and suited up, the instruction had spread out to various areas of the mountain. After about 15 tense minutes, we found Max with the ‘Snowboarders- beginner’ class. What took so long was that I was telling the Ski School supervisor that he was a first time snowboarder. He was not with the ‘Snowboarders- first time’ class as I insisted he would be. He was with the ‘Snowboarder – beginner’ class, having a great time. When we finally found him, he had a big grin on his face and had made a couple of friends, so we left him in that group. The instructors didn’t check his tag, and I put him under the wrong sign, so there was confusion all around. But all is well that ends well.
Max snowboarding from Matt Theule on Vimeo.
Max Snowboarding from Matt Theule on Vimeo.
Max Snowboarding from Matt Theule on Vimeo.
Lucy did all the things that the instructors asked her to do, but she said afterwards that she didn’t like it (except for riding the lift). When we are back in Oregon in two years, we will try again.
Lucy Ski School from Matt Theule on Vimeo.