not in training

Watching the Olympics, you regularly see athletes who started in their sport when they were very young, and have devoted their lives to a dream.  I love the human interest stories, where they tell us how people ended up in their chosen sport.

Well, Charlie is twelve, so I guess most of those sports are out of his Olympic reach, unless he goes for bobsled, many of them just picked it up in the last few years.  Or maybe curling, I think you are never too old to pick that up.  I could design some pretty amazing costumes for the curling team...

Charlie loves to ski, Mike introduced it to him a few years ago, and he was taught by one of the world's best instructors (and former Blue Angel pilot) Rick Adams. 

He and Mike head out whenever they can, and he has quickly progressed to go down the same hills as his dad.  Mike used to be a ski instructor in his teens, and was also on our high school team, so he is the perfect skiing companion.

The school Charlie is at this year has a Ski and Snowboard Club, so on four Friday nights in January and February, a bus took them directly from school to Hyland Hills in Bloomington.  Mike chaperoned each time, and they skiied in everything from temps below zero, to freshly falling snow, to a night warm enough to (almost) ski without jackets.

And while there are no Olympic dreams in site, Charlie has found a sport he really loves, that helps make winter something to look forward to.  Maybe next winter we will introduce him to curling (definitely a safer sport than bobsledding...)