Black Slalom

'Daddy', said William.

'Daddy, are there any Black Diamonds at Camp Fortune?'

'Ummm..yes, I think so' I said.

'Good. Today I'm going to ski a Black Diamond'.

'Why?' I asked. 'There are plenty of fun Blue runs'

As is his practice, he completely ignored my comment as we drove towards the ski hill.

'Are they complex runs?' he asked.

'Which?'

'The Black Diamonds. Are they complex?'

'I suppose. Why does it matter?'

'Because I want to ski a complex Black Diamond' he said.

On this holiday Monday William was looking forward to skiing with his grandparents AND, for some reason, skiing a Black Diamond.

As five year olds go William doesn't lack confidence. He gets that from his mother. As the morning progressed we tried to tell him that the hill may be too steep, that we should perhaps stick with some challenging blue runs, but I know my eldest boy and knew that the Black Diamond was likely inevitable.

An hour into the morning his grandfather took a turn trying to lightheartedly dissuade him as we headed back up the chairlift. I watched William and knew that we were wasting our breath. He crossed his hands on the bar in front of him, lay his chin on his hands and stared straight ahead. Grandpa had been tuned out. We had all been tuned out.

As we disembarked at the top I tried to trick him and tell him that a blue run was a black run. William however, has been tricked before. He stopped and stared at the list of ski runs and their corresponding colour symbols.

'Daddy' he said. 'The Black Diamond is the other way'. True 'dat....so off we went.

Thankfully, it was a sunny day. The snow was good and few people happened to be on that particular hill. As he does with most runs, William tucked right in behind me at the top. With Nanny and Grandpa skiing behind he zigged and zagged his way down the hill.

As I waited at the bottom, watching his final turns, I stuck out my hand to issue  a congratulatory 'high five'. He skied right by be.

'I told you I could do it' he said with a smile.

I was impressed and offended at the same time. I sure hope this confidence sticks with him.

I didn't manage to take any pictures that day. It was just nice to ski with  my parents and one of my sons. Here are a couple of William and Bo during their recent ski lessons though...

William, red jacket, with his class

William and his instructor

Bo with his young teacher Carolynn