Dear ECS,
Honey, what a two plus
weeks we have had. I write this as we
fly back to Addis after 2+ glorious weeks in Italy up in the mountains. Being in two little villages up in the Dolomite
Mountains has been such a relaxing, enjoyable and expansive vacation – long
enough for us to reset as a family and for your ol’ dad to squeeze in a ton of
skiing. So we have all been very, very
happy. The trip is succinctly summed up
your description - “My favorite thing (about this vacation) was just being with
my mom and dad.” Me too, sweetie.
Stretching your skis
The highlight of
the trip was your amazing progress skiing.
Before our trip, you had skied in some pretty idyllic spots, like Park
City, Austria, and Colorado. If I could
have signed up for skiing in those places as at 17 years old, I would
have.
But in all those posts,
you spent just a bit of time on skis (minutes not hours) and mostly just
slushed around a bit on your skis. This
time, we started with having your own ski set up (your proud dad’s xmas preset
to you this year). Then, we got you
enrolled in ski classes in two locations in Italy -- both Canezei and Selva.
The ski classes were a combo of private, single day and week long, and all
added up to a bit less than two weeks of instruction.
In addition, we skied
with you a few more days. Honestly, mom
skied with you a bunch more time than I did, since truth be told I like skiing
solo and aggressively much more than she does and she gets a ton of joy from
watching you grow as a skier by leaps and bounds. Me too.
The trip started with you
excited about skiing, but not really sure of the basics. You have good balance, which is the keystone
for skiing, and are really excited about skiing. Those in tandem can get you far in most
things in life, not just skiing. From the first couple of days on the really
bunny hills, you progressed to the beginner hills used by adults, to the
obstacle courses on those same ski runs.
Your turning, control and speed on the slopes all dramatically exceeding
what I thought was possible, skiing with a lot of speed and then doing the snow
plow stop to get back under control form the little jumps. You like to go fast on the slopes, which are
cool to see, but also like to be in control, which is even better.
And by the end of our
trip, you were riding the poma lifts solo, from start to finish. Which is no mean feat, as the poma lifts runs
pretty fast and requires good coordination and confidence with your skis. Poma lifts are the hand small button seat
lifts that you have to ride solo. And
you did!! The exit is legitimately hard, with the lift running and the skier
having to slip off the little seat, all while the lift continues to run. The long and short of it is that it is hard,
as one of my buddy said over WhatsApp the poma lifts cause many an adult
problems. True, and what made your
aplomb at riding the lift from start to stylishly throwing off the seat time
after time so remarkable for both your parents.
This last point is the
most incredible to me and your mom. 2
weeks ago, we just hoped you would tolerate skiing on this trip and that it was
a start of a love affair with the sport.
And then two weeks later, you are riding the lifts and insisting on
going first and zipping all over the slopes.
It is a big lesson for me as your dad – as your joie de vivre burst from
your face and body throughout the ski days in self-evident fashion. I frankly underestimated your ability to
learn new skills, and in two short weeks you blew through any expectations with
your brain and body. I could not be
prouder of you honey, and hope we as a family have many, many more ski trips in
our future.
And how was the skiing?
Ahh yes, the skiing for
your mom and dad. The snow pack was a
little lower than I would have liked to get fully off piste, but that meant that
I kept to pretty safe slopes. The second
half of the trip got in a nice weather pattern, with cold temps and fresh snow
every day or two at night. I came to
really love the re-pow overnight, as it lead to beautiful blue bird ski days
with some nice new snow to enjoy. And
because hardly anyone else in the Dolomiti during our stay was looking to get
off piste, I kind of had it to myself.
So while the snow and terrain volume was less than previous trips, (like
our trip in 2016 to Chamonix, it was still really good. My legs are tired as I write this on the
plane back to addis, and that is the best kind of test of whether we could get
after it. Getting in the habit of 2000+
foot vertical laps through powder can do that.
I had one really special experience
while skiing in some woods. I was
ripping along, enjoying the fresh snow and picking a line through the forest. And apparently so was this 200+ plus pound
deer, who must have been chilling close to my line. Because as I came through this little knoll,
the deer began running alongside me, and after about 200 feet pulled away from
me. Deers can run pretty fast, in my
defense.
Another cool bonus of
skiing in the Dolomiti is the sheer size of this UNESCO-designated mountain
range. These mountains are stunning, and
large, and the skiing is throughout the range. Our ski pass enabled us to have
access to 12 resorts, 200 lifts and 1,200 kms of piste (for those interested in
the groomers). Absolutely massive. We
stayed along the Sella Ronda, which is a roughly 40 km ski tour around this the
immense Sella mastiff. Mom and I took
one of our ski days and did the Sella Ronda, which took us to four distinct
valleys, all with sheer rock cliffs at least a thousand feet (mom was drooling
over the rock climbing, honestly). It
felt like we were skiing in four Yosemite valleys, which is the highest praise
coming from an American outdoorsman/woman, but one that somehow got stronger through
the trip. At one point mom said, “it is
so pretty I am about to cry.” And it
made so much sense to me, she was feeling the beauty of this special place.
Getting fancy
What food – we knew that
the food would be good. It is Italy
after all. But your mom and I didn’t
really fully appreciate how good the food would be. Italy has 20 regions, all of which have
distinct food cultures. The food for the
north region we were in is hearty – makes sense with the chilly winter
temps. The wine from this area is also
delicious, pinot noirs (“neros”) and lagrein grapes mostly for the reds, which
fit our palate almost too well.
By far the highlight of
our gastronomy side of the trip was dinner at the one Michelin star gourmet restaurant
at the Apline Royale in Selva. The place
opens at 7:30, which had us a little worried given your bedtime and all
that. And dinner did last much later
than we had anticipated, so it was kind of a late night. Despite the late night, it was so worthwhile,
as by some quirk we were the only reservation for the night. So we ended up having the entire restaurant
to ourselves. Mom and dad opted for the
tasting menu, and then the chef crafted a kid-friendly menu for you, which was comprised
of a starter of the most delicious and enormous raspberries, then linguine bolognese,
followed by the most yummy vanilla ice cream.
You were not that impressed with the multiple amuse bouches, and even though
you liked the bread with French butter, you wouldn’t taste the saffron crème fresh. All told, the entire dinner was magical, as we got fancy as a family and had
an experience we had never had before and won’t ever forget.
Heading home
In sum, what a trip. My favorite type of trip, our favorite type
of trip, is one that allows us to pretend we live in the place we travel to. To
pretend for a bit that we have a different life as a family. To sample, to try on. This trip really allowed us to live that fantasy. Thanks for being such a champ, on the slopes,
après ski, and in the restaurants. You
too Mu!
love,
dad
