January Alpine Skiing with Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester!

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter here in the Boston area!  As we experience our second snowfall of the season, we reminisce on a wonderful day of downhill skiing we shared with our friends at Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester this past Saturday at Wachusett Mountain.  Although the forecast called for rain, our youth still showed up at the mountain with smiles on their faces ready to brave any conditions.  We laid out all of our gear on tables in the lodge for youth to put on including gloves, coats, snow pants, and goggles, then we headed to the rental shop to get maybe the most important piece of the puzzle… our skis, poles, and helmets!

We eagerly headed outside to the first hill and put on our skis while our founder and Executive Director, Alec, shared some tips and tricks about how to turn, stop, and control our bodies on skis.  Then, we all headed up the magic carpet together.  Even though it was some of our youths' first time on skis, they all caught on fast and were coming down the mountain successfully in no time.  After a few runs, we decided it was time to level up to the next magic carpet.  We quickly discovered how tiring it can be to skate on skis in slushy conditions as we crossed the mountain to the other slope, but nonetheless we made it!  

Our goal for the day was to successfully turn and stop, and some groups practiced this by playing follow the leader down the hill: one youth would lead the way doing big turns while everyone else followed behind copying the same movements.  Once we felt confident enough, we were ready to get onto the lift and tackle a green trail!  We skied in small groups and everyone encouraged each other to do their best. Some of our friends stayed with Alec and really dove into practicing their turns and stops, they felt accomplished and confident in their abilities by the end of the day.

After many hours on the mountain and a little bit of rain, we headed into the lodge with slightly damp gear but big smiles on our faces nonetheless, feeling excited to have been able to share such a great day of skiing together.  We can’t wait for more great days of skiing to come this season.  Thank you to all of our friends and families at Boys and Girls Club of Dorchester and for making our first skiing trip of the season such a huge success.  We are also thankful for the wonderful staff at Wachusett Mountain for helping our students have an incredibly successful day!  It wouldn’t be possible without the equipment and support they provide, Thank you Wachusett!