Gavin's first ski lessons - part 1 of 2...

The day finally arrived for Gavin to have his first ski lesson. We had been talking it up for quite some time, and he was psyched. I (Brent) had recently had my job eliminated at my former company, so I had tons of time on my hands. Eldora was the natural choice since it was only about 45 minutes away. We chose a day during the middle of the week so we could beat the rush, and it turned out that we had perfect weather. It was like 45 degrees and sunny at the ski slopes with water literally running off the mountain. Having said that, Eldora did have the best snow in the state at the time. We arrived early to get him all suited up and rent his skis, boots and a helmet. He already looked like a pro!

We waited patiently for his two-and-a-half hour class to start. He was excited to meet his instructor and see how big his class would be. It turns out that he only had one other student in his particular class, and his instructor turned out to be amazing. She could not have been any better for Gavin.

After spending about 20 minutes discussing basic snow and skiing strategy, they suited up and moved into the bunny slope area to begin practicing. The bunny slope was about 40-50 yards long with a gentle slope down the hillside.

This was the conveyer belt that brought everyone from the bottom of the bunny slope to the top. Gavin got lots of practice using this lift, as he probably went up it 30-40 times.

Here is Gavin looking like a totally legit skier and ready for business. I have to say, he did quite awesome! He has his skis turned perpendicular to the ski slope so he won't move, and he is waiting for the ski instructor to come back and help him again. Waiting patiently was quite a challenge for our son, of course, when he was eager to attack the slope; and as such, he had a couple of "accidental" starts down the hill when it wasn't his turn yet.