Ski Season Recap

As of last weekend, we are officially done with ski season for the year. I like to do a little recap of our season.

This year was characterized by snowy weather and challenging driving conditions. We were constantly checking the weather and Ontario 511 for highway conditions and were still sometimes surprised when the snow came down. That said, we safely made it back and forth and to all of our races without incident, thank goodness!  The first few weeks were also very cold, but it made for fabulous snow conditions so I am not going to complain. 

Dave and the boys went skiing once in December, then we skied at Blue Mountain on New Year's Day and after that were up at Mount St. Louis-Moonstone every weekend until March 7-8 (with some detours for races at other hills here and there). We skied in France for March Break and then were back up on March 28 and 29 for E's last races of the season. 

This was Q's second year as a U10. He had a core group of buddies that he enjoyed skiing with and coaches that we have known for a few years.  He got to participate in a few races at our own club, at Mansfield, and the Heights. He is excited to go into U12 next year when they get to start doing slalom and get a few more opportunities to race.

E was in the first year of U16 which is combined with U19 for training and race purposes, since there are fewer athletes at this stage. He had the same coaches he had two years ago, and they are the best coaches at the club (I'm not completely biased, Coach Gavin did get Coach of the Year at the closing banquet).  Sadly one of his good friends broke his leg right at the start of the season so he was missed, but hopefully will be back next year.  E enjoyed his year and even received the Most Improved Athlete Award, which he was pleased with. Not only did he improve his technique on the slopes, his coaches appreciated his help setting up the courses, taking them down, slipping the course, and just being a good teammate in general. He has one year of U16 left and then is interested in coaching.

We enjoyed hanging out with our ski friends. We stayed up at a hotel about every other weekend, visited a few different ski hills, and eventually got our volunteer hours in. 

It's a busy time of year for us but it's a great way to pass the winter.