Skiing with Jonny Moseley
Or: That One Day that my Kids Thought I was Cool
Every once in awhile I get to do something that makes my kids think I’m sort of cool. I got to go to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, for example, on behalf of Fitness magazine. Of course they didn’t get to come with me so it wasn’t that cool.
But I was recently invited to join Squaw Valley’s Women of Winter, program for a day where I could ski with Olympian Jonny Moseley who is the “ski ambassador” of Squaw Valley.
WOW is a day of guided skin instruction day with a mission to “ski more and talk less” (that’s my takeaway anyhow). This day a few members of the local media had been invited but I was the only one who showed up.
We are lucky to have lots of skiing legends in our area, and we see them on the hills now and again, but it’s not like we actually make turns with them. I knew that Liam would be thrilled to get to take even one run with Jonny and so I asked the public relations rep if Liam could tag along. And of course Julia didn’t want to be left out. Lucky for us, Squaw graciously agreed to let them join us.
Jonny is a local legend, having won an Olympic gold medal in moguls in 1998, along with other titles too numerous to list. He’s also a super nice guy. At least he was that day. Twenty women, plus my two kids, followed Jonny all over Squaw’s upper mountain, trying to move as gracefully and powerfully down the hill as Jonny did.
At the end of our day, Jonny gave Liam a pointer: “Push forward more in your boots,” he said.
When our day was over, Liam had just two words for me: “Thanks, Mom.”
But here’s what I imagine he was thinking: “OH MY GOD, that was the best day of skiing I’ve ever had. I SKIED IN JONNY MOSELEY’S tracks for THREE hours. He told me I’m a great skier. Dang: I have the coolest mom in the world.”
He’s a teenager so I’ll never really know, but I’m just sure that’s what he was thinking.
Ever do anything that makes your kids think you’re cool? Ever?
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