My son decided to do snowboarding, so I couldn't really help him because I've never done snowboarding. But this is the same kid who learned to ride a bike by watching a friend for a few minutes. He was about four years old. No instruction. No training wheels. He just jumped on and rode. So I figured it would be ok.
My daughter and I did skis. I helped her learn to stop, control her speed, and control her turns. She did really well. She and I graduated from the bunny hills to the blue squares, and she only fell twice the whole day. She's good enough that she could probably handle a black diamond next time we ski. She could have probably done it that day, but she was a little too nervous to try it.
My son got a little help from a ski patrol guy to get his board on. He might have gotten a few tips from the guy, but mostly, he just took off and started snowboarding. He started on the bunny slope too, but quickly graduated to the blue squares. One of the blue slopes had a short run on the side that ended in a small ramp that joined the main slope. Early afternoon, he was taking that ramp, doing small jumps, and landing them with a few inches of air. In the middle of the afternoon, he and I tackled a black diamond. We skied that slope several times, and he loved it!
In a way, I'm not surprised at how well my kids did. Those two have always been pretty active. Different styles, but both are physically gifted. But even though I knew what to expect, I'm still amazed that my son picked up snowboarding with almost no instruction and was doing black diamonds on his first day!
I did pretty well. It was really cool how fast it came back to me. As soon as I was on the skis, I was suddenly 20 again. I immediately remembered a lot of what I used to know, and it felt really natural to be skiing, almost like I had never stopped. But not quite. I was a bit nervous to take the really steep slopes, and I was not excited about the idea of falling, so I probably took it slower than I needed to.
I gradually got more comfortable as the day went on, and I didn't fall until the very end of the day. On our last run, we were on a slope with a lot of ice and some small moguls. I'm not sure what it was that took me out, but I fell pretty hard. My skis stayed on, one leg twisted a bit, but nothing terrible. But my body sure felt it!
I had a really good time, but I learned that I'm not in my 20s anymore. My body is not as strong or flexible as it used to be.
Overall, awesome trip. It's expensive and a pretty long drive, but we are definitely doing it again.
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