Mountains hold a special significance to our family in many ways. In fact, without mountains our family would not exist, so let me tell you a little story...
There once was a girl who dreamed of a gap year by the sea on a surf board. Alas, she didn't manage to gather a travel fund until November, thus decided snowboarding would work just as well. So she went, enjoyed the snow and the mountains, and kissed many frogs along the way, before returning home.
There once was a boy who found his dream job working in a music shop, but then found an even dreamier job of playing in a band in a ski town. So he went, enjoyed the snow and the beer and the music and the mountains.
And the girl felt the itch to go back to the mountains once more, met up with many old friends and made some new friends and went up the slopes again with them all. It was freezing cold, and snowing, so when a boy with a funny hat next to her in the ski lift tried to engage her in conversation, she burrowed her nose deeper inside her jacket and said... not much. "Rude", he thought, and started chatting up a much more agreeable Scottish girl sitting on the other side.
As it happens, beer and music are a winning combination so all the friends alike found their way to the apres ski, and sat down to eat some chips. It was cozy and warm, and the boy and the girl got chatting, and chatting and chatting, and chatted some more the next day, and went up the slopes together then next day, until... they shared a kiss!
And skip a few more years, a wedding, couple of holidays in the mountains and a couple of babies, and here we are!
Mountains hold a special significance for us as a family - without them we would never have met and had a family together! I loved my ski seasons, and a summer season in Chamonix, France. I snowboarded, and learning to ride in deep powder snow was fun and took many many nose dives. I bought myself an off-piste guidebook and set out to explore some places with friends. I snowboarded down the Vallee Blance all the major routes at least once, and a fair few other off-piste areas.
In the summer I learned to rock climb, and enjoyed long hikes and the stunning scenery. I had always dreamt of a dip in one of those incredibly clear and blue mountain pools, but every time I hiked to one of them, the reality and the cold hit me, alas I never did. But I did see many spectacular sights and marmots and chamoises, and touched the glacier tongues and I did dip my feet at least in those ice cold mountain pools.
You get used to having stunning scenery everytime you look outside of your window - I used to see Mount Blanc from my bedroom. When I finally left, the strangeness of everything being so flat and being able to see miles out was surprising. I missed it dearly, but life moves on, and there are new places to explore... Yet still, I still often long to go back to the mountains. It is a great life, outdoorsy and fun.
After those ski seasons in Chamonix, we went to La Rosiere on our late honeymoon (where the pictures in this post are from!), and have been to Levi, in Finland as a family of three. There are so many great things kids can do when at the mountains. In winter it is skiing, walks in the snowy forest, making snow angels and snowmen, enjoying warm drinks outdoors, and tobogganing. In the summer it is little hikes in stunning scenery, biking, climbing, picnics in the valley, and enjoying the nature trails. There are so many special things children can do - it is not a holiday destination for just adults.
Since having our youngest one, we haven't been to the mountains with her yet, so hopefully we soon get to introduce her to mountains as well, and that they too become very special for her.
This is an entry to the Alikat's Dream of Mountains Challenge
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