A season comes to a end...

Okay, so it's been far too long since I posted something substantive. Below is a post I made to the Cooking Light Bulletin board about my coaching season.

On Saturday we ended another season of ski racing for Team Summit. This year was a challenging year on many, many levels. I had fewer athletes but each of these athletes needed more individual attention so I was glad to have less. We had challenges such as FREEZING cold temperatures for the first 8 weeks, a child with issues with textures so getting dressed was a challenge, we had a visual disability that made running gates very tough, we had discipline problems and we had tragedy in the death of a beloved mother. But, through it all there have been some bright lights and I thought I'd share them with you guys just as I did last year. Remember, these kids are 5 and 6 years old!

*First day, a little boy is being too rambunctious in the lodge at lunch time, beating up on kids and coaches/parents. I called him over asked him if he knew what respect is. His response "The Queen of Soul". I said "What?" and he responds "The Queen of Soul, she sings a song about respect."

*Little M's smile. That boy could melt a glacier with that smile.

*Watching the other little M come around from fighting coming to training to loving every minute of it. Oh, and when she almost lost her pants getting on the lift it was very hard not to laugh out loud.

*The littlest H. She was always agreeable to anything I asked of her, from her first black diamond powder run when the powder was up to her knees, to long race days.

*My little angel, the other H. I cry when I think of her growing up without her mother but she taught me so much about love and and living life in the face of much sadness. Her face will always be etched in my mind and I hope that one day many, many years from now she'll remember her coach who loves her very much. I can only hope that I can continue to be a part of this little girl's life.

*Spaulding Bowl. On March 15th I took 5 of my kiddos (the other two were competing at Nastar Nationals) into Spaulding Bowl, a double black diamond which they had to ride their first Poma lift to get too. On top of that, my dad who was my head coach during racing joined us to assist. Watching those kids make it through that run, and have fun doing it was very rewarding.

*Watching my kids from last year clean up in races this year and show off the technique they started learning last year.

At the end of the season, I don't know that I'll coach full time next year. As health issues have plagued and life gets busier I may decide to sub so that I have more flexibility. But, in the end, I'll be back one way or another. The smiles and hugs are addictive for sure. For now, I'll head to the slopes to ski with friends until the last of the snow is gone and then, I'll start dreaming of the turns I'll be making in just 6 long months from now.

First ski race of the season!

For those of you who don't know I coach ski racing for Team Summit at Copper Mountain. The last two seasons I've had our 5 and 6 year olds which has been so much fun. On Saturday we had our first race of the season at Breckenridge. Race days are chaotic and stressful for all involved but most especially the coaches and parents. At this age the kids just do what we tell them too! Today I took leadership of all of our Y7 (5 & 6 year old) girls, all 14 of them and made sure they did their 2 course inspections, got to the start and down to their speedsuits, did their 2 races and got lunch in there as well. I also had 2 other coaches and 2 parents assisting me. I am so very proud of all of these girls as well and their boy teammates who were being looked over by other coaches for the day. They all tried hard and as they know is my first rule, had fun. Ask any of them. The first rule on my team is to have fun. Below is a photo of some of the girls hanging out in the lodge after the second race.

It's a Pow Pow day!

It's been a big weekend here! Saturday I coached for the first day this year. Great kids, although some may be more challenging to work with than others. I had to have a discussion with one little boy after he decided that beating on other parents, kids and coaches during lunch was fun. I called him over to me and said "Do you know what respect is?" (He's 5) his very prompt answer was "The Queen of Soul" I looked at him confused and asked him what he said and his response was "The Queen of Soul, she sings a song about respect." I'm trying very hard not to fall over laughing! Out of the mouths of babes.

This weekend I had the privilege of staying at my family's vacation home in Vail with colleagues two of whom were visiting from Europe. Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at my personal favorite restaurant, Dish. We all delighted in the 6 courses that were served with the tasting dish. Personally, my favorite was the dover sole en papillote with maple roasted root veggies. On Sunday we skied Vail and delighted in 17 inches of snow in the last 48 hours. Of course, now my legs are punishing me for skiing the knee deep powder but it is worth it for sure! I'll have photos of the day toward the end of next week and will post them when I can.