On Monday, I figured out how easy it is to combine video clips together using iMovie. All I had to do was selecting the videos I wanted to combine. As a result of this exciting discovery, I put together a few longer video clips:

• My Journey to Rollerblading is a collection of clips showing my progression within a year.
• The Daredevil Đán shows clips of my second born doing a bit of wild techniques on rollerblade.
• Skiing 2022 reflects on our ski trips for this season.

I am starting to use YouTube more. If you want to see new video, subscribe to my channel.

We arrived at Mount Snow around 10 am and the lines for the lifts were already long. My sons and I took the express lift to the top of the mountains. We started off the green trail so Vương could come along. Then Đạo, Đán, and Xuân went ahead without us. I had Vương on the harness and I skied behind him to keep his speed under control. Skiing with a toddler was harder than I had expected. It took us at least half an hour to complete the green trail, which was long.

By the time we made it back to the main entrance, it was already noon time. After lunch, I hit the black slopes with Đạo, Đán, and Xuân. Once we made it past the main lifts, the lifts to black and blue slopes had no line. The conditions were great. The terrains were somewhat steep. We made several runs. Time went by fast when you were having fun. It was almost 4 pm and we had to go.

The kids and I liked both Okemo and Mount Snow. The former was smoother than the latter. Both of these resorts definitely were worthwhile for the eight hours of driving. We’ll definitely come back next year if we have the opportunity.

As the weather in Virginia and Pennsylvania gets warmer, I feel a yearning for snow. I don’t want the skiing season to be over yet. When my wife suggested that we should head to Vermont because it snowed, I took her up on it. Since the boys had off school on Friday, we could make a short getaway. She booked a small house on Wednesday and we hit the road on Thursday. The drive took eight hours.

Friday morning, we headed to Okemo. The weather was beautiful and the conditions were fabulous. I took Vương on the magic carpet on the bunny slope then the “magic seat” for the green. He enjoyed the runs and wanted to do the green again. This time the operator didn’t let us take the lift. Vương required the lift ticket even though he was free. I had to go to the frontdesk to get one for him. By that time, he no longer wanted to ski anymore.

I joined Đạo, Đán, and Xuân on the expert slopes. The trails at Okemo were wide and long. The black slopes connected to blue slopes; therefore, we could ski for a long time before reaching the lift again. I loved the long runs. They were great exercises.

Xuân had caught up with us. He switched to parallel and felt comfortable on the black slopes. It was nice to be able to ski together with my boys. Okemo had so many trails that we had to follow Đạo. He led us to where we wanted to go. I told him I wanted to check out the double black diamonds. He pulled out the maps and showed us the way.

We had a great time and we definitely will return to Okemo in the future. Tomorrow we’ll check out Mount Snow.

We had another fantastic skiing weekend: Roundtop on Saturday and Whitetail on Sunday. I was surprised how well Roundtop kept their slopes powdery despite the warm weather. In contrast, Whitetail was very slushy. Nevertheless, we had great runs at both resorts.

As the season is winding down—March 20 is predicted to be the last day—the resorts have become less busy. I didn’t see long rental lines like before. The lift lines moved fast, especially the lifts for the expert terrains. In retrospect, Đạo, Đán, Xuân, and I made tremendous progress this season because of our Epic passes. We are incredibly grateful to our lovely lady who bought us the passes. She is such a caring mother. Of course, she had to buy me the pass as well so I could take the kids. I think I held up my end of the bargain.

We started out at the green slopes at the beginning of the season and now we can take on the double-black slopes. I did not take any skiing lessons this season because they always sold out. Everything I learned, I learned from watching YouTube videos. Then I would share what I learned with Đạo and Xuân. Đán is on his own because he does snowboarding. With Đạo, I just gave him some tips and he figured them out on his own. I helped him make the transition from plow to parallel. When we sat together on the lift, I pointed out to him the difference between the two from watching other skiers. It didn’t take him very long to break his plow habit.

Xuân is such a fast learner. He picked up hockey stops simply from watching me practice. He also picked up side-slipping from a ski patrol when he got stuck on the blue slope. With these two skills, he could maneuver his way around the double-black slopes. When we skied together, I just needed to remind him to parallel his skis. Because he had mastered his hockey stops, he had a much easier time making the transition to short turns. He wanted to learn hop turns, which I used quite a bit on steep slopes to control my speed and to feel the adrenaline rush of hopping down the slopes.

I don’t consider myself an expert, but I jumped to the gun like I am deaf (điếc không sợ súng). I know nothing; therefore, I doubt nothing. What I love about skiing is the celebration of failure as part of growth. I fell countless times, but I found the skiing community to be very supportive. Advanced skiers always helped out novice skiers. My skis popped off plenty of times and other skiers always stopped to help pick up my skis for me. Even Đạo and Đán had picked that up; therefore, they helped out when others fell and dropped their skis. On Saturday, Đạo, Đán, Xuân, and I attempted the Gunbarrel, which is the steepest slope at Roundtop. Đạo and Đán went down first. Xuân made it halfway, but he was intimidated by the moguls. I was still on top, but I was not sure if I could stop at his spot. As I was attempting to, someone else offered to help. He got to Xuân and carried him down the steep slope. Xuân enjoyed it. I made myself down to Xuân and all of us continued to the lifts.

Because I have done ice skating as well as aggressive rollerblading, skiing seems more like a natural extension of those two sports. Falling on snow is nothing compared to falling on ice and concrete. Falling off the concrete bowls will guarantee to scrape your skins.

I am a bit sad to see the skiing season is ending, but I am definitely looking forward to next year.

Spent Saturday and Sunday at Liberty Mountain Resort from morning to late noon (around 4 hours each day). Had wonderful times skiing with the kids.

The weather is getting warmer and warmer. The season will end in a couple of weeks. We just have to ski as much as we can before the resorts closed up.

Skiing is a great sport. If you haven’t try it, give it a shot next season. It isn’t that hard, yet tons of fun and excellent exercise. I only started two years ago and skipped last year. This year I started off at the green slopes then moved to blue slopes, then black slopes, then double black slopes.

I have to credit my sons, especially Đạo, for encouraging me to take on the double black slopes. Once I watched him skiing down, I knew I could make it. Đạo and I were around the same level, but he had surpassed me. He can ski over moguls with ease. I navigate my way around them instead of flowing with them. He started off the season doing pizza, but I encouraged him to switch to parallel. It opened up a whole new world for him once he made the switch.

Đán is incredibly good with snowboarding. We took a two-hour lesson together. The instructor told us to stay at the bunny slope to practice, but he went on the green slope. He fell quite a bit at first, but eventually got it. I, on the other hand, gave up and switched back to skiing. My thumb is still sore a bit from the fall on the magic carpet on snowboard.

Once I switched back to skiing, I started to learn techniques on my own. I began with switching from pizza to parallel, then short turns, then hockey stops, then jump hockey stops, then hop turns. These techniques allow me to ski with confidence on any terrain. I am still working on my carvings. I have been enjoying skiing the double slopes so much that I haven’t spent the time learning carvings at the green slopes.

Xuân is doing quite well with skiing. He can do the blues, blacks, and even double blacks. He still relied on the pizza technique a lot. I am trying to teach him to ski parallel. Once he can make the switch, he will be a much better skier. He can already do the hockey stop. He just need to switch his mind.

Vương hadn’t taken any lessons. I just connected his skis with a Wedgie Edgie and strap him on a harness. He just skied straight down the slopes with me slowing him down or helping him to turn. He doesn’t know how to stop or to turn. He doesn’t do the pizza either, which is good. I hope to give him lessons next year.

My wife is also starting out this year. She didn’t have the time to practice because Vương kept clinging to her. He only did a couple of runs with me before asking for his mom. I hope next year he will be less attached to her so she can learn more.

We had a fantastic season. We used the crap out of our Epic passes. With the passes and our skis, we skipped the lift ticket and rental lines, which were always incredibly long. On weekends, people had to stand two hours in line just to get their rental. By the time we left around 1pm or 2 pm, the line snaked out all the way to the drop off area. I am glad we didn’t have to stand in that line.

Yesterday I took off work to drive to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to see my uncle for the last time. Since the viewing didn’t take place until 6 pm, I had plenty of time to myself. After dropping Đạo off at school at 8 am, I headed straight to Roundtop first. It was a warm day, but the terrains were well groomed. Since it was a Wednesday, there was hardly anyone. I shared the lifts with two men separately, one was semi-retiring and one was fully retired. The latter told me that he skied two hours a day and three days a week. Obviously he only skied on the weekdays to avoid the crowd. He made me want to retire myself.

I did six runs down the Gunbarrel, which was the double black diamond that kept falling on Sunday. Because it was well groomed, I did not fall at all. Then I did three runs over the moguls. I navigated my way around the high and steep ones, but I made it down without my skis popping off. As much as I enjoyed my quiet moment alone, I missed my kids. I wish they were there with me. Needless to say, I love skiing. As people are looking forward to warmer weather, I want cold weather and snow to continue for as long as possible.

At noon I took a lunch break and headed back to the slopes. Before 2 pm, I went into the cafeteria to attend a work meeting. I was going to skip it, but I decided to join since it was my boss’s last meeting. She’s retiring as well. After the meeting ended, I headed to Landisville to drop off a bag of durian coffee for an old friend from high school. I hadn’t met in a long time. I met her at her barbershop. We chatted a bit in between her appointments. It seemed like she was doing well.

After visiting my friend, I went to my sister’s house to drop off my stuff and headed over to the funeral home to see my uncle. He looked beautiful and rested. I met many family members and helped set up the tables with fruits and flowers for tomorrow’s service. After the viewing, I took my sisters, nephew, and his wife to hibachi grill. It was nice catching up with my little family again.

Sunday morning, I woke up around five in the morning and saw some snow falling. It was going to be a good skiing day. I woke up the kids around 7 am. We changed, ate breakfast, then headed to Roundtop. We arrived at the resort around 9 am. The slopes were a bit icy but skiable.

I skied with Đạo, Đán, and Khôi on the double black with moguls four times, but fell three times. It was too icy for me to control my skis. I went to another double black without moguls and did fine. Then hit a few more blacks with Xuân and Hân. By 2 pm, I was exhausted. The fallings didn’t hurt, but they took a toll on me. The kids also wanted to leave so we said goodbye around 3 pm.

The resort wasn’t crowded and I suspected it had to do with the Super Bowl. After we got home, I went over to a friend’s house to watch the game. I didn’t care much about football. I just wanted some good food and a couple of beers. In addition, I wanted to hang out with Anh Tiến. We lived five minutes away, but we hadn’t gotten together in years. I was going to head home after the half-time performance, but I stayed until the end. He explained to me the rules of the game as we watched. He was shocked that I was kind of clueless about football. I never paid attention, but I think I got it now. Then again, I might forget everything when we watch next year’s Super Bowl.

The half-time show was awesome. Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg took me back to the good old days of gangster rap. Queen Mary was as soulful as always. Kendrick Lamar was dope. 50 Cent was alright. Eminem knelt down at the end of his performance. Word!

Yesterday I took Đạo, Đán, and Xuân to Roundtop despite the warm weather (50F). To my surprise, the slopes weren’t so bad. They were slushing but skiable. Even though I had been to Roundtop several times, I didn’t realize that it also has separate lifts to black and double black slopes.

I took Xuân and Hân (my nephew) to both slopes. They did fine on the black, but struggled to get through some moguls on the double black. I advised them that if they fall, just slide down. Hân loved the idea. He told me, “Chú Doanh, you are the best. You invented a new technique. If you can’t ski down, slide down on your butt.” He and Xuân enjoyed sliding down on their butts.

We skied from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm and went over to my brother-in-law’s house for dinner. I had a few beers so they asked us to stay. I am glad we’re staying because I didn’t sleep well the night before. In addition, I was exhausted from skiing. Around 7 pm, I started to doze off.

As I am writing this post at 5 am on Sunday, the snow is falling outside and temperature has dropped to the 30s. We will be heading back to Roundtop again in the morning for more skiing.

After spending half a day at the Liberty Mountain Resort on Saturday, we went to our friend’s house to celebrate Vietnamese New Year in Maryland. We didn’t go home until midnight and the kids were exhausted. On Sunday, I let them sleep in and I was tired myself. When they woke up around 9:30 am, I asked if anyone wanted to go skiing. Đạo, Đán, and Xuân wanted to come.

We arrived at Liberty around noon and met up with my brother-in-law and his son. To my surprise, it was not too crowded. I took my kids and my nephew to the blue and black slopes. Another surprise was that all the slopes had moguls. I was worried that Xuân and Hân (my nephew) couldn’t make it, but they did just fine on the blue slopes. Đạo, Đán, and I went down the double blacks and met up with Xuân and Hân at the bottom where blacks and blues merged. Even with moguls, I managed to navigate my way down the double blacks with no problem. We were done around 4:30 pm.

We love skiing and we’ll miss it when the season comes to an end; therefore, we try to go as much as we can. The Epic pass and having our own equipment saved us time and money. We’ll definitely do it again next year.

Yesterday I did not plan to go skiing because of the heavy rain and warm weather the day before. The weather, however, dropped the night before and the resort was able to make snow. Đạo wanted to go so we went.

Liberty Resort turned out beautiful. The terrains were good. Because we came early in the morning, the lift lines were short. Đạo, Đán, and I hit the blue and double black slopes. I slipped on a double black once, but my skis didn’t pop off. I lifted up my legs above the ground and let myself slide all the way down. To prevent myself from slipping to the point where I faced the mountain and my skis started to go backward, I positioned my body in front of my downhill ski and put some weight on it as well. That seemed to work.

We did some mogul runs, but I only chose the less bumpy paths. On the green slopes I tried carving, but fell and hit my ski when I leaned. I need to start with one leg first.

We skied from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm. It was not crowded and the slopes were well groomed. As we headed up, the rental line was long. We avoided the crowd and four hours were plenty.