It’s a perfect day on the slopes. A meter or so of snow, the sun is out and the lifts are on. We make it out to the snow, geared up and ready for a great day of skiing. But sometimes life has other plans.
I’m certainly ready for more. Today is ski day #3 and I’m warmed up and ready to go. Harley has swapped the snow board for skis and I feel like I have my companion back. It’s just a question of how long he will stick with me before he takes off!
But today the warm up doesn’t quite go to plan. After two days on the snowboard, Harley wanted to swap to skis. Now he’s out on the skis and isn’t happy with this either.
I suggest that perhaps it’s just a matter of a couple of runs to get the feel of things again. However, after our warm ups he’s still not happy. So I decide to take things off piste.
I ski off into the fresh snow. Pausing and bending down, Harley isn’t sure what’s going on so I start with a sneaky snowball and it snowballs from there. Immediately there’s a smile and a twinkle of snow fight revenge in his eyes. My only sometimes snow angel has cottoned on.
Surrendering from the fight before I get hurt and completely frozen I flop down onto a fresh patch for a little snow angel action of my own. Soon we have two angels indentations.
Next we build a snowman. Ours has a top hat and one very muscular arm but it’s light relief and I feel our mood has turned around.
Some snow angels and a snowman later and we’re having a lot of fun. Soon, dusting ourselves off and clipping skis back in, we’re back to skiing Gudauri, the business of the day.
Unfortunately it doesn’t last too long and late morning I give in and we treck back to the ski hire to exchange skis for board. Apparently this is the lesser of two evils.
Eventually we’re back on track for the day. We meet up with Jason & Jasper mid slope for a warm up hot chocolate pause at the Xada cafe next to the Soliko lift.
A few more runs in the afternoon and I’m done in for the day. I retreat to the apartment making my own off piste fun with a book and a glass of wine. Jason persists for a bit longer on the Soliko and Sportuli runs with his two little boarding protégés in tow.
Later as the setting sun turns the world icy blue, we regret to the Loft Restaurant for some dinner and a reflection on the day. I think Harley can stick with the snow board for now.
Good To Know
You can’t always get things right, especially with kids in tow. Snow filled ski days are the ultimate but it’s important to leave a little bit of flexibility in the schedule to ensure everyone enjoys the experience. When in doubt, lower your expectations.
Would I Return?
Yes. It’s snow much fun!
