Mountains of Fun?

Family fun with the kids (and adults) continued just before Christmas when we all went to Greek Peak for some winter fun. Thanks to subzero weather for the past few weeks plenty of snow was being made at our local ski resort.  Back in college and prior I was able to go skiing a few times a season and worked my way to a solid intermediate. Not quite ready for the Olympic Super-G team or the X-games, but I could get down a hill, and have a good time doing it : ) This year I considered skiing for the first time in over five years but the lift ticket and rentals for a day of skiing would cost me about three rounds of golf, so as far as hobbies go, this is one I could not continue this time.

However, the resort has an awesome deal called "Mountains of Fun" for beginner skiers or snowboarders. Twenty five bucks for one starter lift ticket, rentals and a lesson was more than a deal to try snow boarding. Five of us got snow boards while three others skied. I found the hardest part of snowboarding just standing back up while sitting on the ground - two feet strapped to the same object created all sorts of balance and center of gravity problems. I also did not like having to sit down at the top of the hill each run, something unknown to the two-plankers. By the end of our night I could make it down with less than four falls while performing minimal carving with the board. Perhaps I'll try that again sometime.

Which could be more than I can say for my wife. She missed part of the lesson to tend to Hugh (who was chilaxing in the lounge with Granddad and Granny) and then had a rough time coming down the hill the first time. I think the first attempts of snowboarding naturally involves many spills and falls, and that subsequently involves many trials of standing up again. After a few of these, Jess' plan was to just "wait until the slope closes and the staff would have to come get me!" The half-squat snowboarding stance was also wearing on her, causing a pain described as "worse than labor," though I was present during that labor and feel her statement was a little dramatic : ) Not one to give up, we tumbled down the hill and claimed success safely at the bottom. However, I am starting to think "Mountains of Fun" is just a clever marketing tactic, and not a guarantee. Beyond the ambiguous measurement unit of "mountains", I do not feel there would have been plural in her fun calculation - though a warm cocoa with Granddad and Granny afterwards may have tipped the scales.