We went skiing right after Christmas at the resort in Rauris, just outside Salzburg.
The first day we got there, it was nothing but a strip of ice and lots of green hills and mountains. Luckily after lots of prayers from James for snow, a snow storm blew in that night and left more snow than the 1 cm forecast predicted. The kids all went to ski school, a first for all of them but Elora, and after a rocky start, everyone had a great time.
James was not sure about the whole ski school thing, but he went every day. Every day he came home sad that the teachers did NOT give him gummy bears, and told us he didn’t really like it. He always went and participated though, and after a couple days and a visit from the “Snow Bunny” who brought a bag of candy, he was a little more interested. He loved riding up the gondola with me at lunch time, and he really loved the hot chocolate and the hot dogs he got to eat for lunch every day.
I loved picking up the kids at lunch time and hanging out up at the mountain restaurant. There was a nice hour and a half break for lunch so we had a lot of fun being together for a bit in the middle of the day. The kids were also super hungry, and surprised us by trying some things they normally wouldn’t. Marion discovered that she loves Black Forest Cake, even though (gasp!) there is cherry jam in it. She has now started saying she wants Black Forest Cake on her next birthday. After having yummy meals together, Chris would take the kids on a run or two before dropping them off with their teachers, while I took James back down to the valley for his class.
By the end of the week, James was really excited that he could “do a really good job” skiing.
I love watching the kids ski. They all really love it and have a great time out in the snow. It really does make winter a more magical time of year (since I usually do not love the cold). We had pretty nice weather with a couple cold, windy days, but a couple days of sunshine and warm temperatures that made for a great time up on the mountain. Elora is used to skiing with her dad, and she missed him when at ski school. She really liked her class, but I think she liked her time with Dad on the mountain most of all.
Rauris is a smaller resort, so we got to ski by the kids while they were in ski school. Marion and Oliver ended up in the same group and said they loved their teacher and had a great time skiing together. Elora was in a more advanced group and said she really enjoyed it. Chris went by her class while they got together to do a cheer on the mountain.
With the kids in ski school, Chris and I got to ski on our own a lot! Chris has been teaching kids to ski for the last seven years, so it was nice to just relax and enjoy the slopes together.
The biggest reason we put the kids in ski school is that Marion wanted to be in a ski race and win a medal just like Elora has from when she went to ski school as a little girl. The kids were so excited about their race and they all did a really great job. It was so fun to watch and cheer for them in their races.
The kids got to go to a fun awards ceremony that night just before we headed to Germany for New Year’s Eve. We were so excited when it was announced the Elora won first place in her class! She had wanted to win so much, but there were a lot of kids in her class and it was a close race. She was so happy!
Here is Chris’ facebook post about race day:
“Elora was very pleased to take the 1st place in her ski school races. There’s a backstory with a moral to it. On the first day of ski school, the school director sorts the kids into classes based on his impressions of how they “ski” 20 yards on a pretty flat slope. Even though we told him Elora was advanced for her age and has skied for years, he sorted them into classes saying, “I can tell everything about a World Cup skier by how they look on this flat”. Of course, Elora skied it lazily and he put her in the beginner class.
We let it go the first day just to give it a chance, but in on the second day insisted he move her to a different group. He “retested” her and moved her up, but said she was “far from advanced”. So it was good to see her take first place in the more advanced group and defy his earlier assumption that she’s a beginner.
The moral is don’t be lazy; and (especially because!) there’s always someone judging you based on incorrect assumptions.
Normally we wouldn’t have put her in ski school, but we wanted her to have the group experience with a chance to participate in race day. The kids all really enjoyed their ski school, but the Austrian (German/European?) method of sorting kids ability/potential based on an early assessment seems to extend beyond ski school and is pretty disappointing.”
I am so glad we got to ski together during Christmas break. It was such a wonderful vacation.
