#onedayaweek

The plan for the day was to do most of the climbing at the beginning, followed by a ridge walk, with the possibility to bag another peak at the end if people had enough energy. Putting the majority of the climbing at the beginning was a way to do a bit of a shakedown to determine who might have some problems, so we could make adjustments to groups and/or route.

We stopped at the first view point, about 1/3 up the climb and at that point determined we would break up into three groups. One group (beginner) would go back down and take a relatively flat path along the base of the mountain. A second group (intermediate) would continue up and along the ridge to our destination. The third group (advanced) would do the same ridge walk, but bag another peak at the end. I was one of the instructors in the intermediate group.

My takeaway, after having done two of these trips now is that it is really easy to take for granted all I have learned and experienced through hiking and backpacking. What feels like a short easy jaunt for me can be a difficult and trying time for a teenager. Most of them don't spend any time in the outdoors on a regular basis. The fun (for me) slightly exposed rocky sections made some kids genuinely nervous. The undulating trail along the ridge frustrated some of them, who assumed a ridge walk is flat. Spending a day, without headphones, was a challenge for a few.

After all these years, I am still convinced that the #onedayaweek protocol should be a part of every child's upbringing. There is just so much to learn and experience from our natural environment.

So my goal of skiing up the mountain every day didn't happen yesterday. Amongst the attempts to get some work done intermingled with the coming and goings of friends, and a fantastic dinner with another friend, skiing took a back seat.

Today however, @mypictograph, @celine, and myself managed to make it out for an afternoon jaunt up the mountain. This would be the second time up for this young man, the first being when he carried his younger sisters (@brienne) snowboard up for her earlier in the day.

When we first started #onedayaweek with our kids, it was our goal to ensure they were tired out by the end of the day. These days, especially with this guy, it is pretty hard to tire him out... he just eats more food and is ready to go again.