Newest member of Team Alps

Another beautiful weekend in the Alps. What can I say? We left on Friday afternoon for Hasliberg, where we stayed in a 400-year-old guest house in the mountain town of Reuti. We ate out at the restaurant next door twice, a rare treat!

Our primary objective for the weekend was to ski. The season is rapidly coming to an end. Snow is long gone in the lowlands of Switzerland, but the mountains are still open for business. Emily and James have come so far in just a couple of months! We wanted to squeeze in every opportunity we can.

As you may know, Emily and James have become such good mountain kids that we call ourselves “Team Alps.” We use it especially when we are in difficult situations. For example, this weekend when I led Emily and James down the wrong ski piste at the end of our final day. We ended up on a long, flat, slushy run that went to the wrong town. We had to take off our skis and walk part of it, and face the possibility of missing our bus back home. But, as always, we gathered our strength and said, “Come on, Team Alps, we can do this!” And we did!

Henry, on the other hand, has really just glided through our trips to the mountains. He usually gets pulled on a sled, carried on someone’s shoulders, or just stays back for a nap while the rest of us take turns hiking and skiing. But he has started noticing that he is the only one in the family who doesn’t get skis, and he insisted he wanted to ski with the rest of us. I was skeptical, to say the least. The one other time we put him on skis was a disaster. But Joe agreed to be in charge of Henry, so we rented him the smallest skis in the rental shop and headed to the slopes.

I have to admit, Henry really stepped up to the plate! Granted, we mostly kept him on extremely small bunny hills, which abound in this area known for the best ski school for kids in Switzerland. Joe or I had to be right with him the whole time, but by the end we could let go and let him glide on his own for 20-30 feet. And he loved it! He also had his 2-year-old moments, as one would expect. But, he walked around in clunky ski boots for two days, didn’t get a nap all weekend, and got a sun burned face. It’s official — Henry has earned his place on Team Alps.

His accomplishment completely wiped him out, and he passed out on the train on the way home. It’s okay, Henry, you earned it!

You can see a video of Henry skiing on our video page.

2 Replies to “Newest member of Team Alps”

  1. Way to go , Henry!! I am so proud of all of you kids!! I still love you all to bits, and miss you to bits!! I will be there in spirit when Gramps comes to visit. Love Grams

  2. Way to go Henry!! First pic of him on skis and he is smiling from ear to ear!! He’s is hooked. Those normally rosy cheeks were even more red?? After Switzerland, how will it be to ski the hills of SE Wis??? No need to answer.

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