‘Generational skiing’ deepens family bonds
My love affair with skiing isn’t anything new to anyone on the planet at this point. The sport has been in my heart nearly my entire life, and will remain there forever.
Two of the best ski days I ever experienced were seeing each of my daughter’s master runs for the first time. As amazing as it is to carve smooth arc turns through perfect snow, seeing my daughters ski well beat every other day out there.
Nothing, I thought at the time (and still did skiing with them years later), could ever beat that.
Until now. Because, there’s a new twist coming to my ski life and ski-mom life, and it may just be the pinnacle of all there is in skiing:
My two granddaughters will soon be skiers too. Which brings us to one of the wonderful parts of a ski life: Generational skiing.
Skiing and riding are sports that pass well from generation to generation. And it’s easy to have a fun ski day with all ages and all levels. But that’s not what makes generational skiing special.
Generational skiing is almost sacred to those in the sport. The dreaming about, planning for and then execution of bringing a next generation of family members into your ski-and-ride world is, for me, up there with all the big days: Graduations, weddings, job promotions and more.
Bringing a new generation in is not just an opportunity to share a healthy, fun and lifetime sport with someone you love; it’s also a chance to show them even more of your soul.
For me, skiing with my kids when they were little – as it will be for skiing with my grandkids now – is about savoring and noticing the moments.
The sun filtering through the trees as you frolic on and off the trail to the woods. The way the snow makes trees bend over you like a party canopy over a beautiful white carpet. The hot chocolate in the base lodge is perfect when you dip a Reese’s Cup into it just long enough to melt.
These are only a few of the many secrets about a beautiful ski life we pass on to our littles.
Stillman “Tim” and Barbara Rodgers may very well be the GOATs of generational skiing (and they’re also my #skifamilygoals).
When their granddaughter Mary was three, they began bringing her with them on most of their many ski trips, getting her lessons, sharing their onmountain love, showing her fun trails and of course, helping her dive into the ski life in total.
She’s a college gal now, Mary, and they’re still at it, embracing every chance to generational ski.
For Tim and Barbara, it’s been decades of added joy to their ski days; the bonus prize for a ski life well lived to date.
“We built a bank of traditions on those trips – favorite places to eat, late afternoon shopping on Main Street, cinnamon buns at The Metro and stopping for dinner at the Yankee Smoke House on the drive home,” Barbara said. “Those are memories we all share – and I think Mary treasures them as much as we do.”
There are the little moments too; the times on the hill when Barbara could feel that Mary was not just improving as a skier (“Eventually, she was better than us,” said Barbara, speaking the
words every ski grandparent hopes to say one day), but seeing Mary dial in on the full-immersion experience skiing allows.
“Some of my favorite moments of a lifetime of skiing are hearing Mary singing as she followed me down the slope,” Barbara said. “She used to make up songs as she concentrated on her turns, so I always knew she was right behind me. Later, when I was too slow for her, I loved watching her ahead of me, following in her grandfather’s tracks.”
Those years of skiing have also brought Tim and Barbara an extra bonus: an added look into the child they adore as she grew.
“We watched her grow up, getting more confident each winter -- as a skier and as a young woman,” Barbara said.
“We watched her become a far better skier than I am,” she added. “Instead of Tim lifting her out of a tearful fall by the hood of her snowsuit, we’ve reversed roles. Last winter she climbed back up the slope to extricate me from a spectacular faceplant when I couldn’t reach my binding release. This time we were both laughing.”
I’ve been ready for those days for a lifetime. And now, with my two granddaughters at three and two years old, it’s about time.
But that doesn’t mean this will be a surprise to them. I’ve talked to them about skiing since just about the first days I’ve held them. (And I may have been secretly working on their vertical leap since they could toddle).
So now, a conversation with my three-year old Molly goes like this:
“Molly, we are going to go skiing together soon for the first time! What do you think it will be like?” I ask.
Her eyes light up. “Rara!” -- that’s what they call me -- “It’s going to be so fun! I will go to ski school and then we will ski together.” She pauses a bit, eyes twinkling. “And then, Rara, we will have hot chocolate and s’mores!”
Exactly, my Molly. Because you and your sister will be the next generation to embrace my love. I’m ready for the next level of multi-generational skiing. Heck, I’ve trained my entire life for this moment.