Our whole family arrived at Liberty around 4:30 pm yesterday. I skied with my wife, Xuân, and Vương while Đạo and Đán went on their own. We began on Dipsy Doodle. Although it was a green trial, it seemed to be more dangerous than the blue, black, and double black trails. Experienced and inexperienced skiers and snowboarders just zoomed down. I had to turn around many times to make sure no one would crash into me.

After one run, I decided to take Vương on the blue trail, which would be safer than Dipsy Doodle. We started off on Upper Heavenly. Xuân guided him through the moguls. When we reached Whitney’s Way, however, he was just gunning down. I freaked out trying to keep up with him. Fortunately he didn’t fall. After we met up at the lift, I asked him what happened. He replied, “I couldn’t control my speed, but I remembered you told me to bend my knees.” I was glad he made it. He wanted to do it again, but I didn’t let him. I need to teach him parallel turns and proper stopping techniques.

We didn’t get home until 11:00 pm and went to bed around midnight. No one could wake up this morning, except for me. I left the house around 6:30 am and arrived at Liberty at 8 am. I went to the back side to practice my carve turns. I determined to get it down this season. This tutorial helped.

I switched out to my snowboard for two runs and left at noon. The crowd was picking up when I left. The rental line was long. I was so glad I didn’t have to wait in line for rentals.

When we go skiing, I am responsible for bringing most of our things. I am getting used to it now, but here’s the checklist:

Must-Have

• Epic Pass

Equipments

• Skis
• Ski boots
• Ski polls
• Snowboard
• Snowboard boots

Protective Gears

• Helmet
• Goggles
• Beanie
• Neck gaiter
• Knee guards
• Padded shorts

Clothes

• Thermo pants
• Thermo shirt
• Ski socks
• Ski pants
• V-neck sweater (optional)
• Fleece vest
• Ski Jacket
• Mittens

Cooler

• Water
• Gatorade
• Beer
• Cold cuts
• Cheese
• Tortilla wraps
• Hot sauce

Snack Bag

• Noodle cups
• Chips
• Candies
• Electric kettle

Transportation

• Collapsible folding wagon

Extra

• Selfie stick

After snowboarding for several days, I missed skiing. This morning, I left my snowboard at home and only brought my skis. I took Đạo, Đán, and Xuân to Liberty. We arrived at the resort around 8 am—just in time the resort opened. We went to the back side to do runs on the blue and double black slopes. I was amazed that three of my kids just zoomed straight down the double-black slopes without turning.

Three teenage snowboarders saw Xuân went down and one of them said, “Oh my god, that kid just want straight down. How crazy is that?” At another time, an older woman said to me, “They shouldn’t go straight down like that. It’s not safe. They need to turn.” I asked Đán why he snowboarded straight down and he replied, “Lazy has its advantage. I was too lazy to turn.”

I still did short turns on the double-black slopes to control my speed. On the blue slopes, I practiced my carvings. I was getting it now and it felt great. I will spend more time carving on skis.

By 10:30 am, the kids were already hungry. We took a break and had an early lunch. We went back to do a few more runs and left at noon. It was a great day.

The conditions were decent. Upper Ultra, the double-black-diamond slope, had no moguls. I had more chance to practice my short turns on snowboard. I am still learning to carve harder. I arrived at Liberty at 9:00 am and departed at noon. With not much of a crowd, three hours were good enough workout for me.

I made a trip to Liberty today at noon since it had a few inches of snow. The wet snow, however, made snowboarding a bit tough. I was having a hard time maneuvering around the huge moguls on the double-black diamond slopes, but I had fun. I did about six runs and headed back home. I was trying to carve, but the conditions were a bit rough. Not a bad day at all.

We let our kids cut school today to celebrate Vietnamese New Year. I decide to ring in the Lunar New Year on the slopes. Our whole family plus my mother-in-law headed to Liberty at 7 am. Since it was still a week day, it was not too crowded.

Since the weather was so warm, I had the idea that we would ski in our áo dài. My wife didn’t go for it. She was not comfortable skiing in áo dài. Obviously the teenage boys (Đạo and Đán) were too embarrassed to wear them. Only Xuân and I were up for it. Here’s a clip of me snowboarding in áo dài.

I was able to do two double-black-diamond runs. I wish I had more time because I started to enjoy snowboarding off double-black-diamond slopes. We headed out around 1 pm to get ready for the Lunar New Year eve.

We stopped by Vinh Kee on the way home to have dim sum. It was a great day with the family. I loved it.

I went back to Liberty to work on snowboarding down Upper Ultra, which is the double-black-diamond slope. Despite the warm weather, the conditions were decent. Upper Ultra was not only steep, but it had big moguls. The moguls made it challenging, but they also saved me from sliding down on my ass the whole way down.

I did about six runs on Upper Ultra. The first time I fell when I turned to my heel side. Fortunately, the moguls saved me. The second time, I fell on my knees. As I was reflecting on what I did wrong, I realized that I pulled my body back when I make quick turns. The third time around, I bent my knees and leaned toward my front foot. That was it. By just leaning forward, I could make my board turn quicker and maintain my balance.

I did several more runs and I didn’t fall at all. It felt great conquering the double-black-diamond slope in just a few hours.

I missed the terrains. I wish I could just ski or snowboard everyday during the short winter. I loved these winter sports. My wife isn’t happy that I want to hit the slopes every chance I get. In addition to taking advantage of my seasonal Epic pass, which cost around $700, I am not getting enough time to hone my skills. Since I am skiing and snowboarding, I have so much too learn and I am obsessed with learning new skills.

My kids are getting bored with skiing and snowboarding because they are not picking up new skills. After hitting the double-black-diamond slopes, they have nowhere else to go. I encouraged them to learn carving, hit the trick terrains, or picking up new techniques, but they didn’t want to. In fact, they would rather sit in front of their computers then skiing or snowboarding. Đán, in particular, is such a fantastic snowboarder. If he puts his mind into it, he could go really far. Unfortunately, his mind is stuck on his PC. It is such a shame.

Having access to the slopes is a privilege not every kid could have. Last weekend, Đạo met up with his friend who wanted to try skiing for the first time. Her dad spent $600 for the three of them just for one day. The price included lift tickets, rentals, and lessons for her, her dad, and her brother. With skiing and snowboarding, you are either all in or all out. Imagine our family of six going for one day skiing. That’s $1,200. I can’t afford that.

At this point into the season, all of our passes are paid for themselves. I don’t even make my kids go anymore. If they don’t want to go, they can stay home and rot their brain on their devices. I don’t have any issue hitting the slopes myself. Even on the weekends when the lift lines were packed, riding single was always faster. In addition, the backside was always less crowded.

My obsession is creating a bit of a friction between my wife and me. She introduced me to this game and I am now all in. I made it clear with her before we decided to renew our passes. If we wanted to do this, I would need to hit the slopes as much as I could, even if she and the kids wouldn’t want to.

Đạo, Đán, Xuân, and I went to Whitetail today because Đạo had a ski date with his female friend. She’s a nice who loves rock climbing. She was trying out skiing for the first time. He took her on Sidewinder. She struggled a bit but managed to get down.

The weather was quite warm and the snow is thinning out. The bases of my skis were scratched up because I went over some big rocks. Mother nature is not giving us cold temperatures. We have about a month and a half left to ski.

I was sharing a lift with two older women. They were talking about ski techniques. I asked one of them advice on carving. In order for my skis to bend and grip the snow, she told me, I needed to push my knee forward and toward the inside of my outside ski. She even gave me a demo after we got off the lift. It seemed to make sense. I tried it, but it still felt awkward. I need to spend more time figuring it out.

We had a fun day with the kids. I missed seeing Vương skied though.

I have been blogging about all of my ski trips. It is probably boring for my readers, but I wanted to document all of my skiing and snowboarding experience.

Since Sunday, I have been resting, taking Aleve for a few days, and drinking zero alcohol. The sesamoiditis seems to subside. I still feel a bit of a pinch. I went to Liberty this morning to ski. I didn’t want to take a chance with snowboarding. I am not sure if the boots or the way I put pressure on my toes caused the pain.

As I had thought, the ski boots would keep my feet in place. The bottom of my left foot didn’t feel any pain when I skied. I was able to ski down the double-black slopes without any issues. I even filmed myself skiing down the double-black slopes.

I skied for about three hours. I tried to learn carving on the blue slopes. My goal is to be able to carve on skis by the end of this season. I set that goal three seasons ago and I haven’t reached it. Snowboarding distracted my progress. I’ll get it this time.