For parents who like to strap boards on their feet and speed down a mountain, there is nothing more fun than doing it with kids. With that thought in mind, the families of the Class of 2012 (this year’s fourth graders) decided to try a kids’ ski trip. Little did we know that such an innocent idea would explode into a weekend of nearly 20 families in the snow above Lake Tahoe.

What would soon become an annual tradition started innocently enough in 2006 when three second-grade families shared a house near Alpine Meadows Ski Resort for the weekend. Three more families who were also in Tahoe that weekend joined for dinner and a birthday celebration since one child was kind enough to have her birthday that weekend. Everyone had a fantastic time and we all agreed to return the following year.

ROCKS AND GREEN BANDANAS
But that gathering was soon dwarfed by the numbers at the 2007 (last year’s) trip. In response to a class email asking for interest, 12 families said they would like to come up for the weekend and stay at a house together. Six more families who planned to be in Tahoe that weekend said they would meet up with the group on the slopes and for dinner.

Short of building a 20-bedroom house to accommodate everyone, the only other choice was to find several houses to contain our sizable group. Fortunately, we were able to locate four houses in Dollar Point, all within a block or two of each other.

Staying together in the houses was as much fun as the skiing. We watched both parents and kids roll out of bed with varying degrees of enthusiasm. But while breakfast was cooking, everyone’s energy level rose in anticipation of a full day of skiing.

On Saturday, we skied at Alpine Meadows. Because of our size, we were able to purchase group tickets — a discount to reward our enthusiastic troop. We had skiers at every level. Even in third grade, some kids were challenging the black runs at the top of the mountain. Many stayed on the blue runs. The kids who took morning lessons were confidently skiing the green runs that afternoon. For a skiing parent, nothing is more exciting than watching a newly minted skier connecting turns down the slope, then plunking down in the chairlift to do it again.

But how would different groups of SFDS skiers find each other on the mountain and on lift lines? After all, it can be a bit challenging to find each other in a sea of Gortex. The answer — everyone wore a green bandana. There was a fair amount of creativity in how to wear the bandana so it could be seen through all the ski gear. Some used it as the tail of a ski helmet, others wore it on the head, “doo-rag” style, and some tied it around their arm. The bandanas made it easy to spot our groups at a distance and link up for impromptu meetings. (Hey, let’s do some jumps!)

After a full day of skiing and a quick change out of our ski gear, we all met at Rocks, a restaurant in Tahoe City with a wide range of kid-friendly fare. Because the size of our group was close to the Fire Marshall’s limit, we reserved the entire restaurant. That evening was also when we gave out what would become annual ski-trip patches.

PATCHING IT UP
The patches were an inspired idea of a dad who is a graphic designer when he is not test-driving his new skis. Because it seemed we were starting a tradition, we decided to commemorate each year’s trip with a separate patch. The patches are sewn on the bandanas and will record each year’s trip.

Saturday night the houses were all abuzz with four separate “sleep over” parties. You would think that the kids would be tired after a full day of skiing, but then again, maybe you wouldn’t. One of the dads also brought out a ski-tuning kit to demonstrate the fine art of waxing and tuning skis.

The next morning, perhaps a bit more slowly than the previous morning, we packed up and headed for Squaw. After the warm-up on Saturday, everyone was skiing strong and challenging the mountain. Even the kids who had just learned how to ski were showing off their newly minted talents.

After a second full day of skiing, everyone piled back into their cars and packed away their green bandanas until next year.