We are taking our kids skiing for the first time this winter. Actually my whole family is going and doing that together in place of getting each other Christmas gifts. We are all really excited about it. But the boys do have a few apprehensions...especially about Ski School.Brian and I have explained that these nice people called "The Ski Patrol" will teach them how to ski. And that the Ski Patrol are the best skiiers on the mountain and they love to teach kids to ski, etc, etc. Then one night while I was channel surfing I actually found a show on TV called Ski Patrol. It is on TruTV and it follows the ski patrol at the Crystal Mountain resort in Washington.
I DVR'd the first two episodes and was planning to watch it with the kids and show them how great the ski patrol is and how fun skiing can be. But, I got bored one night and decided to watch it by myself.
Oh my goodness! There were people bleeding and breaking bones and falling off of chair lifts. A 15 year old boy stabbed his pole up through his neck and was going in and out of conciousness as they drug him down the mountain on their sled. It was awful! Thank goodness I hadn't sat down to watch it with the kids. (Not to mention the fact that when not on duty the Ski Patrol is really just a bunch of drunk college kids who pass their time daring each other to drink entire bottles of Ranch Dressing...without throwing up.)
Of course, being the reality TV addict that I am I still had to watch the second episode anyway. It was even worse! An avalanche buried the only road in or out of the ski resort (luckily with no people in their cars at the time) and a guy crushed several vertebrae in his neck when he landed badly after a jump. One of the ski patrol girls got caught in a small avalanche and her partner had to dig her out before she suffocated!
Brian came home in time to see the last half of the show with me. His response was, "Why are you watching this? You're never going to want to take the kids skiing now. You're not even going to want to go skiing now!"
My thoughts exactly.
2 comments:
I hate to break this to you, but skiing is a dangerous sport. If it wasn't, we wouldn't need ski patrollers and their "sleds." You might want to take a more realistic look at the sport before throwing your whole family into it. It’s challenging, dangerous and not for the weak of heart. Ski patrollers are not on the mountain to "teach" people to ski. Those beer drinking, ranch guzzling, "college kids" are actually extensively trained dedicated to saving lives. That would be about the equivalent of saying cops are on the road to teach people to drive. Have you considered ski lessons?
OK....I was kidding.
I've been skiing several times before and I love it. I have the utmost respect for the Ski Patrol and their skills...especially at Winter Park where they care for hundreds of handicapped skiiers as well.
As a matter of fact the show made me realize just how many medical emergencies they do encounter on a daily basis...and how many people they get safely off of the mountain.
I told my kids they were there to teach them to ski because that is what they are going to do for my kids when we get there. I understand that they have other more important duties as well.
I'm not afraid to go skiing or afraid to take my children skiing. It's a little thing called humor. Ever heard of it? It's exagerration. It's being facetious. It makes the blog a little more interesting and funny. If I have to come on here and comment and explain it all it really takes away from that, see?
By the way, my synopsis of the show was accurate. The conversation with my husband really happened. And they really did drink the night away and one guy was able to chug an entire bottle of ranch dressing without throwing up...at least on camera.
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