Providence, in the shape of an extended ski season and a bit of spare cash, allowed me and my son the opportunity of a trip to the French Alps together.
Great though the opportunity was there is still a dynamic between a fifteen-year-old and his father which doesn’t always spell harmony and it was with a degree of both trepidation and excitement that I looked towards the trip.
With his incredible skills of being able to navigate the internet, my son had come up with a tight-knit plan to get us there cheaply and effectively and also a superb place to stay the likes of which I don’t think I could ever have achieved!
The plan worked and we arrived at the resort on time and checked in to our apartment. Day 2 we had to get ski ing and this is where things started to go slightly awry as I could no longer bear to wear ski boots.
I had two options a) Sit around and do nothing b) snowboard (something at which I am self-taught and haven’t done for 20 years).
Choosing option ‘b’ I soon found myself sitting on the slope with the snowboard in front of me too scared to set off. This is where roles definitely reversed and after a quick piece of ‘coaching’ I found myself making a passable attempt at said sport.
This hurdle overcome, the next day presented a challenge in that it was raining and not snowing. All my worst nightmares seemed to be becoming true and the thought of being trapped in a small apartment with just the two of us and nothing to do seemed all too real.
However, after a brief chat with Mum back at GHQ I was reminded of the management mantra of all trips or get-togethers – ‘Form, Storm, Norm, Perform’ and that this was literally the Storm phase so I arranged for us to take the local bus down the mountain to the local swimming pool which ended up being a real game changer.
Returning from the pool gave me time to reflect on the real aim of the trip and I realised that it wasn’t about skiing per se or even some sort of cheesy ‘bonding’ experience.
My son and I have a perfectly good relationship and we are a very close family but, it was about ensuring that we came back with our friendship intact – which is the first rule of Alpine climbing and something I have written about before, but not something I had thought to apply to this situation.
Explaining the idea to my son he was very receptive to the notion and especially the fact that this simple rule carries with it so much other stuff about patience, understanding, care, consideration, respect and many other things (Norming)
As if someone up above had been listening the next day we awoke to fresh snow and sunshine and for the next two days we skied ourselves silly (Performing) before returning our kit, jumping on the bus and making it home in the early hours of the next day refreshed and excited with stories to tell and a new level of understanding and friendship between us.
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