Day 783 – Grayson’s Journey

Dear family and friends

I'm not really sure how to describe today as anything other than "WOW"!

I decided to let Grayson have two sessions (morning and afternoon) instead of just the afternoon. I rousted him early (7:30 AM) and got him to Disabled Sports Eastern Sierra in time for his 9:30 lesson. This morning he had one of the instructors that he enjoyed yesterday and another that he had not worked with before. Both ladies worked well with Grayson. He did much better than yesterday on the beginner hill – following instructions, turning to control speed on command and the like. The decision was made to grab a harness and take him to more challenging terrain. The harness was, like yesterday, to keep him from just flying out of control down the hill. On the last run of his session (down Mambo) they only had to slow him down once as he was doing well controlling his speed. Here is a photo of Grayson and his instructors at McCoy Station with a special guest – Woolly!

Grayson and I went to the Main Lodge for lunch and spent a nice hour alone together – Grayson had pizza and I had a salad.

This afternoon we had the privilege of having two of the professionals (not the usual volunteers) work with Grayson. I wasn't about to miss this! Grayson did three runs down the beginner slope then we were off to the gondola. We came down Mambo then rode chair 6 back up. Then we went down Mambo again but instead went to Mill Creek. We stopped there to get some water and use the rest room before getting on Chair 2. We went to the top of 2 and headed down Broadway – without any restraints. Zachary talked Grayson down the entire way – coaching him on making his turns, keeping him in control and encouraging him the entire way. Brian and I took up positions in the rear to keep people clear of Grayson and Zachary (they call us "blockers"). This was a red letter day since the last time Grayson was on Broadway was before his incident. All of us – instructors included – were so thrilled! Here is a picture of Grayson going down Broadway with Zachary leading the way.

Tomorrow morning we pack and check out. We'll ski in the afternoon before heading back to LA. Tonight Grayson, Austin, Xixi and I went out to dinner on our last night at Mammoth – this trip. The Reed Family Mammoth VII trip is almost over, however we'll be back for certain!

Pax!

Brant