#3-Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Skiiers

Snow is now on the ground where I live in beautiful Duluth, Minnesota.

And the 16-year-old needs new ski gear this year.  Lots of it. 

He does not ski competitively, just for fun on weekends and vacations, sometimes after school.  Duluth has a very nice, very picturesque ski hill, where local kids spend school breaks and hang out.  It’s good for him to get out from behind the video games, good to have real social skills, and good for him physically, to learn a lifetime sport. 

I just wish it didn’t cost so much.

I know, the local hill is a bargain.  And it’s not as expensive as, say, hockey, where you need skates and pads and pucks and sticks and, probably worst of all, ice time, which must be rented.  But downhill skiing is an expensive sport.

I am not inherently cheap.  I was trained that way.  I had two Depression-era parents who, as long as I could tell, never had a fun day in their lives if they had to spend a nickel.  When I grew up, they vacationed at my grandparents’ cabin.  This probably didn’t cost anything except the time and gas to go up and rake the leaves in the fall -- about which they complained.  We didn’t go anywhere else.

So, it’s not that I don’t want my child to have fun, and have friends.  Both are essential to a fulfilling, well-balanced life.  I’m much more balanced in that regard than my parents.  I thank my lucky stars for friends and recreation that has made my life rich.

But enriching experiences don’t have to be enjoyed only by the rich…or those with plastic.

Here’s his estimate of the cost of outfitting himself this year:
Skis - $250 (“A really good pair would cost $400 or so.”)

Bindings - $80

Poles - $40

Boots - $40

Snowpants - $80 (I checked, and was told the kind that is necessary to have NEVER shows up at the Thrift Store, “oh, pleeeeease!”)

Jacket - $160 (he would have preferred the $220 one; “this will last forever.” Sure.)

Hat - $20

Gloves - $25 (not including the heat packets to go in the little pocket that holds them)

Helmet - $40 (no complaints here, don’t want him ending up like Sonny Bono)
Goggles - $40

Layers - $60 (I have no idea what that is, unless it is that “wicking away” underwear)

That, plus gas money, just gets you outdoors at the top of the hill.  If you want to go down the hill, then back up, then down again, over and over, it costs $160 for a ski pass (and that’s very, very reasonable; imagine if we lived in Colorado!).

Total (he did the math, I’m trusting it to be): $995.

Mind you, my teen is not a fashion plate who requires designer name brands.  But apparently there are certain basic minimum standards so you don’t get laughed off the mountain and the Target or JC Penney house brand doesn’t cut it.  They don’t even make the type of specialized gear that is necessary, he assures me.

I’m thinking he could have chosen a relatively cheap sport, such as swimming laps! 

Not very social, maybe, but the cost of a day pass at the local fitness center is $6.50.  Add in a man’s swimsuit ($30 tops, a lot less if you pick up a used one at the thrift store, which males can do, or $70 if you are female), a couple of bottles of shampoo, a lock, and you’ve got miles of lap swimming fun, fun, fun for about $50, tops.  That even includes a clean towel, a nice, hot complimentary sauna and as much hot water as you want in the shower at the end.

In addition, you don’t have to stay all day and pay for lunch.  But, I suppose that is part of the fun…

But he needs fresh air, needs to be out with friends in the winter?  So, I suggested, then how about snowshoeing?  Even less expensive than cross-country skiing!  You can get a really decent pair of snow shoes for less than $100, and you can wear the same outside gear you need every day to go to school or wherever anyway!

(Personally, I think it’s a great activity.  You don’t need a groomed trail or hill, you can get way into the woods no matter how deep the snow, and it can be a huge workout.  Last winter I worked up a sweat and even tired out the two-year-old black lab, who gave up breaking trail after not too long and was happy to follow, rather than lead.)

“Oh, yeah right, Mom, that’d be great.  ‘Come on, you guys, let’s get a Snowshoe Team going!’  Right.  Uh-huh.  Yep.”

Why not?  You could take some really nice day-trips, that might cost a little in gas, see some beautiful country…

“Yeah, we could do ‘Extreme Snowshoeing,’” he mocked.

Yes, they could.  If they had the $40 helmet.

But first, it’s going to take a whole lot of mommies and daddies to create little snowshoers out there, starting before they can walk, committed to getting them outside and snowshoeing with them…and a whole group of friends growing up snowshoeing together to make it cool.  A lot of Tweets and Facebook pages and YouTube videos, for sure.

Then, it’s going to have to be a winter Olympic sport.

Finally, it’ll take a red-headed long-haired dude to be a star snowshoer. 

Too late for me and my child.

But two things are working in our favor:  he’s got a job – at the ski hill!  -- and I’ve got plastic.