Here’s a wee article I wrote after last year’s ski trip. I wasn’t ready to share it straight after the trip and it hasn’t seemed like a good time, until now. With parents now being asked to decide whether to send their child on the school ski trip or not, I thought now would be a good time to share this with you all. Ngā mihi, Rebecca.

On Thursday I was lucky enough to accompany my daughter on the school ski trip. As we left Christchurch and were driving towards the mountains, I thought about all the parents who were sending their children out of school for a day of skiing, and what might be their thoughts on the school’s justification for this extravagance. Because when you think about it, skiing is a rather costly, individualistic, self-indulgent pursuit consisting almost entirely of strapping boards on your feet and sliding down a snowy hill. And on top of that, students are missing a day of classroom learning in order to do it.

From the school board’s perspective, I can reassure you that this isn’t just a “jolly” for the teachers. If I had to distil it down to one reason, I would say that the board’s justification is part of a larger aim of enabling our students to experience a well-rounded kiwi childhood – the sort of beginnings which provide the ability to take part in a full kiwi adulthood – playing outdoors with odds and ends, learning a range of sports, joining a club, going on school camp, going tramping, learning how to ride a bike, how to swim, and.. how to ski.

Although this is the third time I’ve joined the school up the slopes, this is the first time that I’ve really seen why we take the children skiing. And I’d like to share this with you in a list of sorts. A list I’ve titled: “5 life lessons you get from learning to ski”.

But before I do, let me tell you about a senior student I met on the Intermediate slope. My daughter was in her beginner lesson and after hanging about the learner slope for a while, I left her to it and headed up the next level. Once at the top of the pommel lift, I watched a group of our students follow their instructor down the hill for their first run on the Intermediate level. One student (let’s call her Natalie – not her real name), obviously unsure of the steep slope, and not quite as practiced as the others, hung back and was eventually left behind. Another Dad and I asked her if she wanted us to go down with her and she said she would. What followed was a painstakingly slow experience of building up courage, a tight turn (repeating out loud “pizza wedge - press on knee - look where I want to go”), a bit of speed, a crash into the snow, then assistance to get upright again from whatever position she had landed in. She must have crashed at least 20 times. It was hard, so hard for her, she was cold and scared and after a few attempts at getting back on her skis, really tired. I was getting pretty tired too to be honest. But from that student, I learnt a great deal about why we take our students skiing.

1. Life Lesson Number 1: Face Your Fear

Life is full of scary moments – starting high school, your first job, quitting your job to start your first business, trying wasabi, the list goes on. But by doing risky things and succeeding, we gain confidence to attempt the next scary but rewarding thing. Our world gets bigger. And better.

Standing at the top of a steep ski slope - it’s truly scary. There’s only one way down. No one can do it for you, you can’t go back the way you came, you can only go forward. You might get hurt… you’re definitely going to fall. You might look stupid in front of your friends (!!!). The list of “what if’s” play through your mind. What if I can’t stop? What if I crash and roll down the hill, taking out everyone on the way?

At this point, you just have to face your fears, you have to decide to take the leap of faith in your own abilities, even though you may fail, you have to start the slide.

This lesson was also epitomised in the words of one of our year 5 girls, who, standing at the top looking down the steep slope, said to me “I can’t do it!” - but then did it.

2. Life Lesson Number 2: Learning A Skill

As I listened to the Ski Instructors teach their flock of skiers the basics, it occurred to me that learning to ski requires intense focus and attention on what you have to do. You have to keep in mind several different tasks, at once: don’t let your skis cross! Make your skis into a pizza wedge! Push out with your heels! Lean forward! Bend your knees and arms! The list goes on.

As well as being good practice for learning any practical skill (such as driving) this intense concentration also gives us a mental health boost at the same time. You may have heard the phrase ‘mindfulness’ bandied around quite a bit recently. Well there’s a great deal of recent research espousing ‘being in the moment’ as anxiety-reducing. A much needed skill in modern times and possibly even more so for the world our children will grow to inhabit.

It's been a long time since most of these kids learnt a truly new and complicated skill from scratch. Learning to swim and ride a bike was years ago for many of them. But it won’t be their last. Perhaps this is keeping their brains and reflexes sharp for the next new skill, which is likely to be at high school and with the added pressure of an assessment to go along with it. I hope my daughter and all our KSS students are up for those future challenges, whatever they may be.

3. Life Lesson Number 3: “The Mountains Are Soo Beautiful”

I overheard one of the younger girls on the ski day say to her friends “The mountains are soo beautiful.” Within that small realisation is I believe a much larger concept. By getting out of our usual environment and going somewhere wild, huge and rather inhospitable, we gain a new perspective. We sense how small we really are in the big wide world, and this gives us a sense of awe, even a spiritually uplifting sense of grandeur. Importantly in a time of climate crisis, when we gain a love and appreciation for the wild places, we grow to cherish and value them. This continues even when we aren’t in the wild places, and then we also value the funding of their preservation at a voter level. By teaching our tamariki to love Wild NZ, we are protecting Wild NZ for generations to come.

4. Life Lesson Number 4: Look Where You Want To Go

As the other parent and I were coaching Natalie down the slope, this Dad said something really useful: “Don’t look at what you don’t want to hit, look where you want to go and your skis will follow” (or something to that effect). This idea, I’ve found, also works in mountain biking, white water kayaking, throwing a ball, and life in general: look where you want to go. Don’t focus on the thing you don’t want, but zero-in on the thing you do want. Don’t worry about the bad things in life that can happen, just focus on your goals and what you want to achieve.

5. Life Lesson Number 5: Perseverance AKA “Grit”

Grit seems to be one of the latest buzz-words in parenting and education these days. It’s all about teaching kids to be able to face challenges and persist and adapt when needed in the face of adversity… and it’s important because grit has been shown to be a predictor of future success.* There are many things that get in the way of our children developing grit, but out here on the slopes, many of these barriers have been removed. It’s just your child, with feet in tight ski boots, strapped to skis or board, on the snow. No one else can ski down the mountain for them. They have to listen to their Instructor, they have to set their own goals, they have to work REALLY HARD to achieve those goals, even if they’re cold, tired and hungry or thirsty. And they have to keep making themselves do it over and over again. Making decisions, committing to them, following through. Learning from the “immediate feedback” that sloppy technique, speed and slope always provides. And as your child realises that they can in fact get better at skiing, they realise how much they truly are capable of achieving. And this not only develops grit, it also builds self-confidence. And out of all the wonderful sights I saw that day, the grittiest, most wonderful sight, was seeing our friend Natalie reach the bottom of the intermediate slope, tired but elated with a huge grin on her face, head straight for the lift to do it all over again.

* (See Angela Duckworth and “growth mindset” for more reading).

Post Script:
There were so many other life lessons I wanted to write about…

Wear Your Helmet. Not because you’re a bad skier but because other people are bad skiers.

When it’s cold - you put on your jacket. Just because you can have fun for longer that way.

No one is perfect at skiing – but just keep practicing and you will get better.

Snow is fun. But it’s more fun with other people.

“When things get too fast and out of control, sit down.” —James Larkin

And lastly… I really want my children to learn to ski or board (and I’m really glad that my Dad taught me) because when they are in their early 20s (and covid is history) and they are travelling the world, I want them to have the experience that I had, of being asked by my employer “Our next trip is to the French Alps, we’d like you to come, you can ski can’t you?”