Skiing with the kiddies

So it turns out that two Saturdays ago wasn't my last time down near Chapelle... Last Tuesday, February 21st, I went along as a chaperone with two classes of CE2 (3rd graders) for a day of cross-country skiing. Actually, it was more like a day of picking small (or not so small) children up out of the snow. But I was prepared for that, and agreed to go along because it sounded like fun. It turned out to be more like Type 2 fun -- an analogy Claire introduced to me a while ago and which I have whole-heartedly embraced. The quick summary: Type 1 fun is fun at the time. Type 2 fun is fun in retrospect. -- This day of "skiing" definitely fits the profile of the latter. The pic below was taken from the bus window en route to the ski station.

The event took place during the school day (in theory we were supposed to be back by 4:30pm, we actually got back closer to 5:15pm). We left on a big coach bus around 9am, with all of the kids wearing their combinaisons (snow suits) and boots and hats, etc. They were pretty adorable. I believe there were 39 kids, plus Anne-Sophie and Nathalie (the two teachers -- see pic below), 4 SUAPS students (students in the sports program at the university who helped with PE at the school), and Florine, who is my age and an aide for one of the students in Nathalie's class.

The itinerary said we were going skiing in Mouthe, which is 87km (or 54 miles) south-east of Besançon. It turns out we were actually skiing at a place called Le Pré-Poncet, another 6 km further south. So, by the time we arrived, unpacked the kids and got everyone into their skis, it was nearly 11:30am. There were two instructors from the rental center who were in charge of teaching the kids... but unfortunately they didn't explain the basics before giving the kids all of the gear and telling them to give it a try first on their own. Big mistake. We had kids and skis flailing all over the place! Only after everyone had fallen a half-dozen times and struggled to right themselves again did the instructors explain the proper technique for getting up again. I wish they had done this before giving the kids their skis, because it would have saved me a lot of arm work hauling the kiddies up out of the powder.

Luckily it was a really glorious day... brightly sunny and not cold at all. It was a bit of a tease though, to be so close to the trails but not really able to ski. We never actually went on any of the trails! After lunch the instructors led the kiddies up and down two gentle hills, and cut wide circles in the big field in front of the rental chalet, but we didn't go on the trails.

The classes is going back for two more sessions in March after the winter break, so I imagine it will be much easier the next time and they will probably do more. If I'm invited I think I will politely decline... in theory it was a day off, but really it was more like work, except with less chalk and more snow!