Spring has sprung in so many ways. We returned home from our end of the season ski in Chamonix to a sunny Malmö with things starting to bloom and birds in flight. Riding my bike to work this morning with Oskar by my side, we counted swans, geese and ducks filling Slottsparken. I couldn't help but to relate to the maternal instinct of these birds as they send their children off to fly for the first time. Last week we took the kids to the top of Grands Montets to picnic and ski for a nice season's close. It is an amazing feeling to see them hit any slope regardless of how steep or how big the moguls are with no fear and pure joy and pretty decent technique. Hanna-Maria of course had to provide our annual lesson a healthy sense of fear. While preparing to picnic on top of a peak, my helmut started to roll down the mountain. She decided to take pursuit on foot and proceeded to slide at full speed. Keep in mind we are talking Grands Montet here (cliffs, glaciers, crevasses,...nasty stuff). Anyway, my Super Mum adrenaline kicked in and I took flight in pursuit after her. I began running but realised it was not quite fast enough. I threw my feet under myself to slide on my backside, knowing it was the only way to catch up to stop her decent. When I caught her, I am not sure who was more scared, but we sat for a bit and just held each other tight and breathed.
The voice of many a guide ran through my head saying "most accidents happen up here not from skiing." So we survived, Hanna Maria (and the rest of the kids and parents) got a good lesson on mountain safety. I am still nursing an aching back (Super Mum is getting a little old for flying arrets) and replaying the incident in my head every night before I fall asleep. My lesson learned, it is not just teaching them technique, but how to handle when things go wrong. Next year, a day with a guide to go over mountain safety skills for the whole family. Is this how the mother birds feel after sending their first out of the nest?
