Lola and Lincoln on their first skiing trip Jan 2014
As most of North America was covered in more snow than they knew what to do with, those of us in the South West were left to ski on the last few snow flakes we could scrape into a pile. As Shaun found out, twigs and scruffy bushes on a ski run can be rather hazardous, and definitely don’t make a very soft landing. It was however, more snow than we are used to having in South Africa during December, so good fun all the same! As it turns out, South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and experiences the season of Summer over the December period, much to the surprise of the family we rented from. Africa is interestingly enough also made up of Countries, and not States, a strange concept for some oh-so-cool-Californian-folk to grasp. All that aside, we had a very awesome stay in Lake Tahoe!
It wasn’t a complete surprise, but watching a 3 year old learn to ski and a 30 year old learn to ski, is like watching two different sports. The one is performed with joy, excitement and a daredevil sense of speed. The other is performed with fear, shaky legs and wet clothes from constantly falling in the snow. I of course, was not that 30 year old. When I fell, I did it properly and found the only pile of mud at the bottom of the ski run, covering myself in brown sludge instead. It was however a blessing because if I didn’t meet the mud under the bunting at the bottom of the run, I would have had a very close encounter with an SUV in the parking lot a meter in front of me. This was done with all the skill of previously having ski’d of course. My incompetence when I learnt to ski 7 years ago will go unmentioned here.
Shaun on the other hand, dived back in like he’d been at it all his life. Rather annoying. I like to think I’m better at some sports than he is, so I insisted on 3 days of X-country skiing, which worked out fantastically! Turns out Shaun and I go a similar speed (yessss!) and it allowed the kids to get the feel of moving around on ski’s before sticking them at the top of a hill! They took to it surprisingly quickly and we had a blast skiing through the beautiful forests around Lake Tahoe (before it all turned to sludge and ice).
Then it was time to get the kids on ski’s… up a hill. Aside from the cost of hiring ski equipment and buying ski passes, there is the cost of lessons. For anyone who hasn’t done it, it is extortion! So after one too many shots of our Mexican tequila, we watched some online tutorials, and decided to teach them ourselves. They made it so easy for us (thank goodness). By the time we left they were skiing (with confidence) down the same slopes I was, they may have been in ‘snow-plough’ position and not parallel skiing, but they loved it, and their desire to do the bigger runs with Daddy blew my mind (you would understand this if you knew the Lola who left South Africa with us).
Much to my surprise, we all managed to leave in tact, with only minor injuries. The kids most painful accidents were slipping on the ice as they hopped in and out the jacuzzi fetching ‘ice biscuits’ to eat while sitting in the hot water. Shaun left his ski’s half way up the slope a few times while he filled his jacket with snow and cuddled some bushes, but other than that was left no lasting memories. I on the other hand was given quite a beating. Not by the bushes, not by the slopes, not by my ski’s, but by the staircase I was doing some stretching on. Yes, my own stupidity I know. But it does still feel like the staircase opened a can of whip-ass on my shins. So other than a very mild side of pain, our skiing was very successful, despite the snow drought and pleasant temperatures the Sierra mountain range is experiencing.
It is sad that we had to leave all that behind us, but more because we had to face the reality of work again, and juggling our epic travels with something as tedious as earning money. Way to go real life.
But with a new year under our belts and some ideas on how to not let it get the better of us, we are diving into the second half of our travels with renewed energy and an appreciation of all we have back home. Man we miss Cape Town, and braai’s, and Woolies, and duvets, and real closets, and friends, and reasonably priced delicious wine, and and and …. !
