Family Ski Trips

Every year you could count on one thing; that my family would be going to Canada to ski. Usually this much needed ski trip would happen over President Day’s weekend.
We started this family tradition the year my dad decided that we needed to learn how to ski together as a family. They took us to Mount Brighton which is a small mountain in Michigan, well a man made mountain. If I remember correctly, it was actually a hill on an old landfill; kind of neat! My parents got us an instructor to teach us how to ski at Mount Brighton. I remember going down the “bunny hill,” which for those of you who don’t know, are the tiniest hills possible for newbie skiers. I also remember my ski instructor teaching us about “pizza.” We were to make “pizza” to slow ourselves down or stop by bringing our skis together in the front. I caught on pretty quickly; we all did which was great because then we were all ready to move onto bigger hills. By the end of that trip, we were all pros flying down the largest hills they could throw at us. We had officially graduated from the bunny hill!
The next place my parents decided to take us was Mount Holly. This was a step up from Mount Brighton and I was thrilled when I saw the big hills and all the opportunities. My best friend at the time, Eileen, was able to come with us. She is super athletic so she caught on to skiing in about two minutes flat. Lucky her! Also, I was a mean friend and wouldn’t allow her the luxury of starting on the bunny hills like I was able to. I was too excited to hit up the big stuff! I’m sure we were a riot to watch.
We outgrew Mount Holly after one visit, and the next stop was Canada. We made it into a family tradition and went every year. Usually we stayed in different places to have different experiences. Often times we would have family friends or my dad’s work associates meet up with us to join in the party. And I was the lucky child who was always allowed to bring a friend. It was the best time! The first year that I could bring a friend was my sophomore year in high school. I brought Polly Burnette along. Let me just say I don’t think that she was cut out for skiing but it was still a blast, and by the end she had made definite improvements. So that’s something to be proud of! The funniest time that is ingrained into my mind from that trip is when Polly tried to do a turn at the top of this huge hill. She went straight off the edge of the mountain! It was only a few feet down but it was hilarious! I could not stop laughing. I looked over and she was flat on her back with all her poles, feet, arms, and skis waving in the air in a huge jumble. It took a while to get her out of that predicament. The laughs were well worth it though.
That next year, my junior year, I invited Laura to come with me. She couldn’t go for some unfortunate reason; her loss. So I decided that I would invite this girl who had moved into the ward and my high school along. I didn’t know her well because she was newer and she had been dating this boy from our ward, and that’s who she spent most of her time with. This was a turning point for me because this girl I invited became my dearest and best friend ever. Danielle Magleby! I was hoping it wouldn’t be awkward because I didn’t know her super well, but we clicked just like that! It seemed we had been friends since the preexistence because of how well we got along. This trip was honestly hilarious. I had never laughed so hard in my life. First of all, I am not sure why, but every single person stared at us whenever we were in the public eye. We like to think it’s because we are beautiful, but maybe it’s because they were trying to figure out what we were possibly taking or inhaling to make us laugh all the time. And I mean all the time. Danielle and I got our very own room in this house my parents rented. It was sweet! We had a nice bed and we would stay up late watching movies on her laptop, and blaring music on her iPod because she had brought around her dock, which I originally thought was called “duck.”
This trip originated many inside jokes between the two of us. Where to start with going down those hills! I pulled a mean friend scenario again and wouldn’t allow Danielle to learn how to ski on the bunny hills. I wanted to show her the bigger hills! So after she was convinced I could teach her myself on the big hills how to ski, we came up with a plan. At the top of the hill, Danielle may or may not have freaked out about going down. We were genius and decided that we would go down together; literally! I put my legs farther apart, and had Danielle hold tight onto my waist, with her two skis in-between my skis. And then the fun began! We zoomed down quickly and laughing the entire way. I remember people watching us from the ski lifts and I’m sure laughing just as hard as we were. We continued to do this countless times, and it never got old. The wipe outs were the best! Usually our skis would end up one place, and we would end up another. Don’t ask me how it happened because I don’t know. Wiping out with your best friend is so much better than having to look like a fool by yourself. We made peoples’ days, that’s for sure!
Danielle and I had a few tricks up our sleeves. More like pranks actually. We cornered Taylor, and made him agree to be in on one of our ideas. We told Taylor to make it look like he ran into the huge poles that supported the ski lifts. Of course, he was doing it on purpose. But nobody else knew that, so it seriously looked out of control! He would start at the top of the hill, and the best place to view was from up above on the ski chair lift. He’d start skiing down, enjoying the ride, and all of the sudden would make a huge dramatic scene, flailing his arms and bouncing off of the pole. Don’t worry; these ginormous poles had pads on them.
Speaking of Taylor and his skiing experiences, I’ll never forget the time I thought that he may lose an eyeball. He had a huge skiing accident. This was more serious, definitely not funny or even a joke to begin with thank goodness. He had made a “friend” and this “friend” told him to follow him through this shortcut down the hill. It entailed pine trees and lots of bumps and slick ice. Taylor didn’t know, followed, and flew face first into a tree. He’s lucky he didn’t get more hurt than he was! He could have been easily injured for life. I remember hearing the snow patrol ambulances coming up the hill; seeing them. Seeing him in the hospital bed was the worst with an eye that was almost gouged out and a huge purple face swollen and bumped and bruised. I started crying actually when I saw his face but didn’t want him to notice. I was relieved and knew he’d be okay though when he mustered up the strength to ask me, “Lindsay, can you get my Nintendo DS from the car?” That’s when I knew he would be okay! I love that boy.
I’ll never forget riding with my dad, mom, and Danielle while the kids rode with another family going up. We left literally an hour after the other car, but we beat them across the Canadian/American border. Danielle and I were trying SO hard not to laugh in the back but were failing miserably. What was so hilarious? The fact that my dad was going about 90mph to make it to Canada. We would always hear the loud noise from the tires going off to the side a little bit on the freeway. I have this vivid remembrance of us both leaning to the side at the same time trying to see the speedometer. I could tell you a thousand stories about my dad and his driving. It is infamous.
Skiing created some of my all time favorite memories. This yearly tradition bonded our family in ways that it could not have otherwise. You have to love family vacations!