Ski Bunnies

First off, I am quickly realizing that if you have seen one family ski photo, you have seen them all! It is pretty tough to get original and unique shots due to the many factors on the ski hill:
1. Always wearing the same gear, bundled up from head to toe including helmet and goggles so no specific features can be noticed.
2. The perfect photo opportunity is lost by the time you get to a stopping spot, pull off the gloves, unzip the pocket, get out the camera, get it turned on......
3. I am not to brave in regular public places asking a stranger to take a family photo and definitely don't see myself stopping someone on the ski hill, asking them to risk frost-bite to their fingers and stop their "epic" ski day to take a photo for us.
4. There are only so many angles to achieve while riding on a chair lift.
5. The amount of photos with a black gloved finger in them are numerous and not that impressive.

So, with all that said, I will warn you that you may see many of these photos during this winter and you may think I am just recycling one or two pictures but I assure you they are new and unique shots:-) Last year our ski day was just a fun adventure while this year we are hoping to have a SEASON of skiing. Bring on the snow!!
Tom got up for his first day on Friday to check things out and the girls have been BEGGING to go up since the hill opened. So off went today with the truck loaded. The 4 wheel drive was very handy as we saw many cars pulled over having to chain-up. It was a BRISK day on the mountain, topping out at 27 degrees. Far different from our first ski experience HERE last spring when it was in the 50's and we barely needed jackets.
But the experience was also much different in the fact that the girls' skiing was SOOO much better. I can't really explain why since there has been no practicing or training sessions in the off-season but it was so much easier to manage. Madison only had 2 falls on her very first run and then was on her feet the rest of the day. She is definitely ready to progress from the Discovery Chairlift (ie - bunny hill) but the next lift is such a huge leap in difficulty I am not sure how we manage that. Here is video of Madison mastering the mountain.

Nora also did so much better. Though I will admit that Tom dealt with her the majority of the day. She seems to respond better to him on the slope (in other words she whines much more for me than him:-). I think the total of her falls the whole day was the amount she fell on each run last year. She had much better control of her body and vision for where she was going.

Due to the cold, we didn't stay quite as long as last time but we see it as a very succesful first day of the season. I imagine the girls are going to be asking to go every weekend. But maybe we will shoot for once a month and throw in a few lessons along the way.