Dear family and friends
Today was a big day! We had a lot of "firsts" today.
The first "first" was arriving at Disabled Sports Easter Sierra (DSES) at 8:45 AM! This was the earliest we arrived all week. We put on boots and Grayson was ready to go before 9:00. Unfortunately Dad forgot that the REGULAR lesson times start at 9:30, not 9:00. After 4 days of trying to get there by 9:00 I was in the groove. I could have let Grayson (and I) sleep another 30 minutes. Oh well, at least Grayson was wide awake and alert for his lesson! He was also there and alert when his instructor "judge" presented him with a 100 year anniversary pin of the California Appellate Court. He is now wearing it proudly on his parka!
The reason we didn't want to be late this morning was that we had Zachary as an instructor. Zachary is one of the few professional instructors on staff and he is excellent. Our time with him today was no disappointment. After 1 run on Chair 11 (the Discovery Chair) Zachary determined that Grayson could use a bit more challenge and we headed up Chair 1 (the Broadway Express). Here is a picture of two more "firsts" today. One is actually finding the Burrito Snowcat, the second is being with Grayson at the top of Chair 1 for the first time in over 2 years. The picture shows Grayson and Zachary skiing past the Burrito Snowcat.
Shortly after Grayson got on St Anton he had speed control problems on the ice. At one point he lost confidence and couldn't move forward. Here is a series of photos showing Zachary leading Grayson down the steep part until Grayson regained his confidence. (Photo 1, photo 2, Photo 3, Photo4, Photo5.) After that we headed back to Chair 11 and stayed there for the rest of the day working on turns that have an edge!
Since Springtacular is over we had to go to the cafeteria for lunch. When we returned our afternoon instructors Kate and Mark were ready for us. I went two runs with them and determined that they had Grayson well covered and I took off on my own for a full hour – another "first"! For those of you have been to Mammoth, I managed a run down the Powder Bowl, Stump Alley, Solitude and St Anton before heading back to catch up with Grayson and his instructors just before the end of the day.
At the end of the day we changed out of our boots and headed back to the hotel. On our way through the lobby one of the DSES instructors that we have seen but not worked with all week came running after us and asked us if we had dropped a ski glove. Sure enough Grayson had dropped it. After thanks and hugs all around we went up to our room.
After being closed all week, the Yodeler Pub and Restaurant reopened for its final weekend of the season yesterday. Our last "first" of the day was to go to the Yodeler for dinner. The food was good and we enjoyed the experience – and the short walk from the hotel.
Tomorrow we pack up to leave this place after a great week and an even greater season. One more day of skiing!
Pax!
Brant
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