Family Fun Facilitators

Breaking for a Photo with Lisa, Noah and Sage in Front of a Mountain Lodge Cabin

“So what do you like best about skiing?”  I asked eight-year old Patrick on one of our many chairlift rides together.  There was a long pause during which time I anticipated the usual response, the one I receive most from kids—something along the line of loving to zip down the slopes really fast.  Patrick gazed out at the snow covered panorama that glittered with white diamonds before us on that chilly, yet sunny, morning.

“I like the views of the mountains,”  he finally replied.  “It’s so beautiful,” he added with all the wonder of having just opened a prettily wrapped Christmas present and finding a treasure inside.  “Back in D.C. where we live there are cars all over the place,” he added.  “It’s so busy.  Here it’s beautiful and quiet.”

I pondered his answer as we sailed over the slopes dotted with skiers of varying ability levels, largely vacationers that all totaled resulted in record-breaking numbers for the mountain this past holiday season.  “It is lovely here, isn’t it?” I replied, thinking about how the awe-inspiring grandeur of our jagged peaks escapes no one, not even children that are typically focused on the thrill of bombing down the hill more than absorbing the beauty of the surrounding area.

It was day eleven of my fifteen-day stint of ski instructing and with each client, big and small, I always found new inspiration, a fresh take on how to help everyone maximize their mountain experience.  I was on private lessons throughout this period, assignments that allowed me to more fully connect with my students which in turn created bonds that brought us all closer together, parents included.  

Sure skiing improved and we even broke through barriers such as being able to carefully work our way down steeper terrain without succumbing to a total meltdown.  (Cheering about those achievements together afterward was always the best!)  But more importantly, relationships were forged; everyone had more fun, a not-so negligent happening that produced a more positive time on the slopes and memories that would surely last a lifetime.

Some of my most vivid memories involve family ski vacations and I know that that’s the case for most of the people that chose to brave the cold and snow, the often tedious adjustments of clothing and gear and challenges such as trying to get your skis into a perfect parallel on a blue run when it feels safer to revert back to a power wedge.  Running about on a sandy beach—clad in nothing but a bathing suit—is far less daunting, yet certainly less rewarding.

I like doing what most ski instructors do best here in Telluride:  working with adults and children as a sort of family fun facilitator.  And in doing this, we take on a variety of roles at different times including coach, mountain adventure leader, big buddy and even surrogate mom, to name a few.  As an enthusiastic instructor, I introduce silly chairlift games, orchestrate drills such as skiing on one ski (to better feel the weight on the outside ski) or just simply cruise down the trail, setting the pace with a variety of turn shapes for all to follow.  

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