This Saturday we headed out of town to White Hills Ski Resort to make the most of some fresh snowfall, as Elizabeth took to the slopes for the very first time.
Hitting the slopes
White Hills is around 2 hours outside of St. John's, so we set off before sunrise to make sure we got there in time for Elizabeth to sign up for the morning 'Discovery' ski lesson - a great deal for beginners that includes a full day ski pass for the bunny slope, plus full gear rental and a 1.5 hour lesson to get you started. It definitely paid to be there early, as things quickly got busy. People clearly wanted to make the most of the snow before it melted.
View from the Top
Once we were all sorted with skis, boots, helmets and poles it was time to hit the slopes. Elizabeth joined her lesson for a quick run-through of the basics with an instructor. First, and most importantly, was learning how to stop. Unfortunately, some of Elizabeth's classmates struggled with this all important step, meaning that the instructor was not allowed to take them all up the bunny slope.
When the lesson was over, however, Elizabeth quickly made her way to the top of the slope to try out her newfound skills, before quickly making it back down to the bottom: at this point she hadn't quite mastered turning...
When the lesson was over, however, Elizabeth quickly made her way to the top of the slope to try out her newfound skills, before quickly making it back down to the bottom: at this point she hadn't quite mastered turning...
... or skiing without staring at her feet, therefore appearing asleep to the untrained eye.
Meanwhile, Luke took to the slopes proper, exploring all the runs that were on offer. White Hills has one chairlift that takes skiers to the top of the hill, where they can take their pick of almost 20 runs to make their way back down. There were only 10 runs open on Saturday but that was still plenty for Luke to explore throughout the day. After a couple of warmup runs, he thought he'd try out one of the not-so-open trails, which turned out to be a fairly exhausting ride through powder and over ice. Other than that, the runs were perfectly groomed making for a very enjoyable morning.
After a quick lunch in our car, we both made our way up the bunny slope with one goal in mind: to teach Elizabeth how to turn. It must be said that at this point, despite multiple runs heading straight down the hill at high speed - including one run where her skis were crossed for the entire descent - Elizabeth had yet to fall over. She managed, somehow, to continue this trend for the rest of the day and with a little bit of help from Luke, quickly mastered turning.
All in all it was a great day trip. While it was a pretty long day it was well worth and, with Elizabeth's newfound ski skills, we'll be sure to go back soon. Here are some more pictures of our day out:
All in all it was a great day trip. While it was a pretty long day it was well worth and, with Elizabeth's newfound ski skills, we'll be sure to go back soon. Here are some more pictures of our day out:
