Well-Mannered Snowboard Children

On Valentines Day this year it rained. And it rained a ton. I mean, it was a devastating dump of water. It should never rain that much up in the mountains in February. For snow enthusiasts, and ski/snowboard instructors working at the resort, it's tragic to see the precious snow being drizzled on, churned up, and slushed away... especially knowing that if it had it been maybe 15 degrees colder, as it should be in the middle of February, it would have been a legendary powder day...

...oh, it breaks yer heart.

That afternoon, during the lunch break, the yurt walls were lined with red instructor coats dripping cold rain water onto the floor, and all the instructors were sopping wet. Nobody wanted to be out in the rain, nobody wanted to teach... eyes kept darting to the clock on the wall, and ears were listening for the buzz of the walky-talky report. Hoping nobody would be foolish enough to sign up for a snowboard lesson in the rain, and eager to be let off so we could all go home and get ready for Valentines dates.

The walky-talky report that is sent up from the snowsports office to the yurt usually goes something like this:

"Come in, 600. Do you copy?" - our supervisor at the yurt, all of us standing around anxious to hear if we are going to be getting paid, or if we just get to go free ride.

"This is 600. Over." - the office.

"Can we get a final count for afternoon line up? Over." - the yurt

"Eh, yeah... it looks like you got 127 ski lessons, 47 adults, 54 kids, and 26 babies. Over." - the office

"127 ski lessons, and not a single snowboard!!?? Over." - the yurt

"That is correct. No snowboard lessons. Not even a baby. Over." - the office

Okay, that might be a little exaggerated, but it is true that the ski side of snowsports is way more busy than the snowboard side. For me, a snowboard instructor, it's baffling. Snowboarding is way more fun, and from what I can tell.. skiing looks like the easiest sport ever, why would you need a lesson in something so remedial?

Anyways, this is how the report went on the rainiest day of the year:

"Come in 600. Can we get a final count for afternoon line up? Over." - the yurt

"We have zero adult ski lesson, six adult snowboard lessons, and nine children snowboarders. Over" - the office

Our hearts sank a little.

Typical.

The rainiest afternoon of the season and the wild adventure driven snowboarders were set on coming out to ride. The nice part about having so many lessons being we didn't have to draw straws to see who would teach... we all got to spend the next 2.5 hours getting drizzled on and lifting people up off the slushy snow

Good thing they don't hire the faint of heart to be snowboard instructors, and it's the happy hardcore ones that have stuck around this long in the season... we all know how to step into our wet coats, turn on our smiley faces, and share the love of riding.

My lesson actually turned out to be one of the funnest lessons of the year. I taught two little kids, brother and sister (9 & 7), who were adorable. Just sweet, well-mannered, smart, and as we rode the lift they taught me all about different habitats and the animals that live in them. Both of them would talk and listen, they also gave each other room to say things and not be interrupted... it was amazing.

They had never been on snowboards before and didn't complain about how hard it was, how they fell so many times, or never once said how horrible the weather was. I couldn't believe it. Not even when the boy's gloves were so wet he couldn't put them back on his hand very well when he took them off to squeeze the water out!!!

At one point he fell hard learning how to turn and calmly said "oh, I am in excruciating pain!" But then he was back up, learning how to shred again!

I don't know what the trick is to raising good kids like that, I hope if I ever have the duty of rearing some they turn out just as polite and sweet as those two. I met their father at the end of the lesson, complemented him on his awesome kids and told him it was one of the most enjoyable lesson I've ever taught.

From bits and pieces the kids told me, I could tell this family was loaded.. they traveled quite a bit, could afford snowboard lessons, nice gear, and their dad drove a luxory SUV and had paid to go skiing by himself during their lesson (he also gave me the best tip I have ever received)... I tell you this because I've met enough rich parents at the end of lessons to be surprised at how different this family was. The dad seemed to be sort of nerdy, or geeky, and in my speculations, I imagined he was a successful rocket engineer genius. The type that can handle complex equations with ease, but struggles with human interaction (that type of nerdy). But he was nice, very polite, and graciously accepted the complements about his kids. To me, it was a pleasant reminder of the power of good manners. It doesn't matter if you are a rich rocket engineer nerd, a small shop owner, a poor snowboard instructor, or a hill billy redneck... good manners make you a nice person to know. And, I think, will make your kids nice kids to know.

The more I study about manners and etiquette, the more I love them and marvel at how life-changing they are. I think they make you feel better about yourself, and they definitely make others around you feel warm and glad to know you. I saw a quote the other day that said "manners will open doors that the best education can not" (Clarence Thomas said that) and another one, "manners will open doors that the best pick up lines can not" (don't know said that, but they are right)... I completely agree. I think it's also safe to say that manners help make your kids nice for others to be around, or nice to teach snowboarding to on a rainy day... so we should all be well-behaved, and well-mannered examples.