We went skiing again today. I can see a big improvement in Hamster’s self-confidence, just compared to last week. Last week he really didn’t want to ride the chair lift. I went up with him every time and had to hold his hand when we got off. One time it stopped for about 5 minutes and as it bounced and swayed, he sat there saying "It’s okay, it’s okay, we won’t be stuck up here, it’s okay." We took Slow and Easy down the hill each time and the one time we thought we’d take Lift Line he decided it was too steep.
This time was a different story. He rode up with me a couple times, once more under duress because he really wanted to go up with his dad, then it happened. He didn’t wait for me at the bottom and got on a chair by himself. I could see him trying to put the bar down but his arm was just a little too short. I was scared for him, but the lifty couldn’t do anything. I got on a couple chairs later and yelled to him to scoot over and lower the bar from the side. The people in front of me yelled back that the bar was down. He’d figured it out for himself!
It was the same with the skiing itself. He wanted to ski with me for the first couple runs, then he was off with his brother. Down the Lift Line. The next run I did the Lift Line with him but I couldn’t keep up. I decided to let him go it alone the last time, I stayed on Slow and Easy, he did Lift Line.
It’s been a different story for Squid. He loves to ski and has from the first time he tried it. He got boots for Christmas and a friend loaned him skis, so he doesn’t have to wait for us to get our rentals. By the time we got our skis on, he’d already gone up the chair lift and was back down. He probably did twice as much skiing as I did today.
