Can't we just say he's seven?

Once upon a time, I lived in an A-frame cabin on a snowy mountain and snowboarded over 150 days a year. I would wake up at 4:30 in the morning, work at a coffee shop until about 10:00 a.m., snowboard all day, and sell snowboards at night to wealthy L.A. vacationers. Like all certified ski bums, I had complete and total disdain for the tourists who paid more to ski or snowboard in one day than I did for an entire season. I loved this vagabond lifestyle for about two years until the siren song of an actual paycheck and health insurance brought me back to Southern California.

Then the funniest thing happened. I had a baby and all of a sudden snowboarding was not the most important thing. In fact, it didn't really even register as a priority. For about six years, I continued to snowboard about 5-10 days a year, but never at the level I once did.

I had kids. Go figure. 

Then an even funnier thing happened. I met and married a boy from Utah and moved to a place that had seven ski resorts spitting distance from my front door with way better snow than Big Bear and less crowds than Mammoth. Robert and I took Aidan skiing for the first and second time while we still lived in California, and, like all parents with a shred of common sense, we stuck him in lessons rather than try to teach him ourselves. I highly recommend this to any parents who want to keep their family relationships intact.

Aidan's second time skiing at the Canyons when he was seven

Last year we moved to Utah and Aidan got really into skiing. For the first time, he could join me and Robert on real runs and I only had to check my speed a little for him to keep up. Watching him discover the thrill of finding powder stashes between trees and conquering steeper terrain is by far the most thrilling snowboarding I've ever done in my life.

New Christmas presents -- coat, skis, boot, bindings, and poles

Yesterday, Robert, Aidan, and I ventured out for our first family ski day of the year. One thing that still makes me cringe is the cost of a day pass. My season pass at Mammoth (that -- reminder -- was used about 150 times) was $99 because I lived and worked in town. Now, a day pass can cost over $100. Gasp. Cough. Last year, we did a lesson for Aidan at the Canyons that cost $217 for ONE DAY. Highway robbery. I have officially become the yuppy sucker who pays exorbitant rates that I used to make fun of. We went to Brighton yesterday where kids seven and under ski for free. I had a huge moral dilemma while I considered asking Aidan to say he's seven to save us $40. In the end, we coughed up the $40 for Aidan to ski because asking your nine-year-old to lie is bad parenting or bad karma or something like that.

Keepin' it honest at Brighton

Aidan is absolutely fearless when it comes to skiing to Robert's delight and my chagrin. His favorite thing to do is go between trees which he calls "secret passages." Sometimes I follow him and Robert through the trees and sometimes I just wait where they will pop out and pray they come out in one piece. I spend about half of the day running interference for Aidan, snowboarding by his side in case an out of control skier cuts him off or doesn't see him. I have seen young kids get clobbered on the hill by people who don't follow the rules of the mountain or just don't keep their eyes open for little ones, and I do what I can to keep Aidan safe.

Robert taking a bite out of Aidan's helmet

On less aggressive terrain

Getting hot chocolate in the lodge

Yesterday Aidan slid over his first two boxes which were really tiny and allowed kids to ride straight on rather than ollie up the way you usually have to.

Kind of like this 

I was so proud to watch him slide up and over the boxes knowing that this would just be the beginning of thousands of challenges he'll conquer on skis. Because Aidan is in third grade, he's allowed to start ski club this year at Dilworth. Every Friday he'll get picked up from school at 1:00, ski with a group of his friends, and he'll be back in the school parking lot by 6:00. How awesome is that? Hopefully, with all the skiing Aidan will do this year, I'll get at least one decent action shot so I can prove how cool Utah has made my son.