Eric, Mary, David and Sarah Kleppinger aren't your typical Northern Virginia family...they put the "super" in SuperNoVA! Come along on our adventures and keep up with all we do!
This past weekend was the annual Troop 688 family ski trip to Canaan Valley, WV. After all the snow and cold here this winter, I was really looking forward to this: then it became 60 degrees for the few days ahead of the trip. My timing just stinks sometimes.
The drive up went well; leaving after school meant we got there around 8 and had time to relax. David used his evening to connect with some friends and go ice skating, demonstrating what the concept of "awkward" looks like:
Saturday was skiing for David; we hardly saw him at all all day. Sarah took a lesson again on the snowboard, and while she did that I got in a few runs on the "loose granular" (read: icy) trails. Then she and I spent the afternoon together on the training slope, rehearsing what she'd learned. As you may recall, last year Sarah also had snowboarding lessons, then wiped out in the afternoon. Not so this year! Instead, she did really, really well, and didn't push herself beyond her comfort zone. See how well she boards this slope:
David only has two more years to go as a Scout on these weekends, and despite the 52-degree weather I don't think he'd trade it for anything. Sarah's still circumspect: enjoyed getting back on the horse again and doing well with the snowboard, but I don't think she'll be clamoring for lessons apart from this annual exposure. But at least we got to spend a weekend together, and even though I didn't get a lot of skiing in myself, for hanging with her, I wouldn't have it any other way.
This past weekend, the four of us drove to wild, wonderful West Virginia to the annual Troop 688 ski weekend at Canaan Valley. This was the first time that the ladies had joined David and me; Mary is not a skier and doesn't enjoy getting cold, and Sarah had not previously been interested, but this year announced she wanted to try to learn snowboarding.
Confidentially, I had low expectations for her snowboarding adventure; I thought that despite the 90-minute lesson, the repeated face-plants into the snow, and a little snow down the parka, would quickly turn her interest into tubing or just watching TV at the lodge. How little credit I gave her! Sarah gamely strapped into her snowboard, and I caught up with her at one point during her lesson, as she was maneuvering quite impressively. After her lesson, over lunch she enthused about the experience; after lunch, she and I headed to the bunny trails and lift to ski/snowboard together.
During our first run together, she impressed with how long she was able to stay up before catching an edge and tumbling over; I managed to catch this particular run on video:
We then made a second run together, to the two bunny trails that make the long loop from the top of the bunny lift to the bottom. Not only did she stay upright coming off the lift, but she completed the top leg of the trail without falling, and nearly made it to the bottom of the second without falling as well! This with only one 90-minute lesson: color me impressed!
However, the next time wasn't as fortunate. She elected to try the broad trail that runs directly underneath the bunny lift; it turned out to be a bit steeper than she had expected, and she lost control and fell nearly at the bottom, bruising her left knee and taking her out of snowboarding for the rest of the afternoon. Before the weekend was over, though, she did say she thought she'd be back next year, and I certainly hope so, as it was a special time skiing with my daughter.
David, of course, continues skiing and trying to win races among his fellow Scouts. Their favorite trail to do so winds from the top of the mountain to the bottom, and is called Timber Ridge. Once, I tried to stay caught up with him on Sunday, and this was the result:
David is the skier principally in the frame, but several times his speed takes him far off or around his friend John on the snowboard; once, he soars up through a wooded cut-through onto the bottom part of a black-diamond trail, Gravity, that I finally mastered this weekend; he is next seen as the rocket shooting through the frame in a tuck, and well off into the distance for the final sprint to the finish. By my rough back-of-the-envelope calculation, he's averaging about 18 mph on this run...not Olympic speed, but fast enough for his little 14-year-old heart to get a thrill.
Despite Sarah's injury we all enjoyed the weekend. It's nice to get away as the four of us and to try new things, again continuing with the theme of 2013: there's gonna be some changes!
