Amos is four years old now, and he just had his first ski day at the local resort, Snowbasin. Amos and I have been playing with skis, ski boots, goggles, and all his gear at our house and on cross-country trails for a while by now, but he had not been to the ski area for a real ski day with a chair lift and all. My father, the greatest ski teacher I ever had, was in town and really wanted to take Amos up for his first day. My wife and I thought Grandpa would be a great teacher for Amos and the weather cooperated with our plans.
^Getting ready with his mom. Amos has a pair of vintage Micky Mouse K2 skis. These are the same skis that I learned on as a kid. Modern skis have more shape and camber. I figured if he can learn on these, then he will be that much better off when he gets a modern ski.
^Showing off for his little brother, Walt. Amos was pretty excited for his ski day. He woke me up in the morning by whispering in my ear, "Dad... It's ski day." Kind of a big deal at our house.
^Walt all bundled up to watch his brother get on the chairlift. He is a pretty stoic kid, but I think he was just as excited as the rest of us. Deep down.
^Amos' first ride on the chairlift with Grandpa and his Mom.
^Walt watching Amos come down his first run from the window inside the lodge. Amos is a really good big brother. He gets a bit rough with Walt from time to time, but every big brother does. Amos just wants to play with him so bad that he can't stand it. Walt is the same way. The way to looks up to Amos is adorable, and I am so excited to see them grow up together.
^Amos between his Mom's legs.
^Chairlift riding.
^Under Grandpa's tutelage.
^Stoked on a chicken tenders and french fries lunch.
^By the end of the day Amos was skiing under his own power and as the smile on his face in this picture above displays, he loved it. I often get a lot of people that tell me how he will be some big shot skier like his daddy, but I really don't care if he wants that life or not. I really just want to him to enjoy skiing so we can take family trips and the like. I would love to ski tour in the backcountry with him some day, but I really don't harbor a deep desire for him to be nearly as dedicated to a skier's lifestyle as I am. Just to see him smiling on skis is enough for me. This day might even have been a bigger deal for me then for him, but the enthusiasm he had for the day and this smile warmed up my heart with the ignited fire of dreams of a future of family ski trips and a childhood outside. The same kind of dreams that we put aside during his cancer battle, but also the same ones we have been working on trying to live again ever since the day he came home from the hospital.
