Despite a solid -18C on the slopes and two hot chocolates demanding to be let out soon after they were let in, there was no way Emmett would agree to go to the bathroom.
It all started two hours earlier when he met Hamish, his Sun Peaks ski pro. Emmett hadn't been looking forward to his mom ditching him on a ski lesson so she could ski with her friends. But upon meeting Hamish, Emmett had instantly reconsidered. He checked out Hamish's twin-tip skis, his grown-up beard, his bandana and his badass helmet.
"See ya, mom!" he'd said. I was ordered to take a hike. Hamish was in the building.
I can't tell you much about the actual lesson. I used the time to explore Sun Peaks' expansive off-piste terrain with a pack of really good guys intent on skiing trees and untracked powder.
But I can tell you the lesson went extremely well, simply because Emmett had refused to go in to the bathroom.
"He's had an accident," Hamish told me breathlessly at the pick-up point.
I looked down at Emmett's limbs, which looked as though they were still intact. No sign of tears, either. I asked: "What did you hurt, buddy?"
Emmett wouldn't speak.
"Not that kind of accident," Hamish piped up. "I asked him if he had to go to the washroom. Twice actually. But he said he didn't." Hamish was talking faster now. "Then we got half way down our last run and he ... well, he ..."
"Let it rip?" I asked.
"Uh. Yeah," Hamish said. "And I asked him if it made him cold and he said no, it actually made him warmer!"
My son's love affair with skiing the trees at Sun Peaks (sunpeaksresort.com) started the day before with the help of Olympian and Senator Nancy Greene, who makes her home at Sun Peaks.
She'd invited us to join her in leading a pack of young Sun Peaks ski racers competing in the Nancy Greene Ski League. The group was being followed by a CTV camera crew -- the footage will run during February's Olympics -- but the Olympian didn't let that hold her back.
On our first run she headed straight into the Cahilty Glades, off the Sunburst Express chairlift. Together the kids beetled from one set of powder-laden evergreens to the next like remote-controlled stock cars commandeered by Bart Simpson.
"C'mon Mom! You can make it!" Emmett kept shouting. "It's not that steep. Whattya mean the branches are too low? I made it!"
Greene, who leads complimentary mountain tours, gave the kids a few tips on skiing the glades safely.
"Ski with at least three people in trees," she said. "That way, if you're hurt, one can stay with you, while the other gets help." Then she added wisely: "And you don't ski through trees ... you ski around them!"
The tree skiing at Sun Peaks spreads across three mountains: Sundance, Mt. Morrisey and Mt. Tod. In total the ski resort, which is located near Kamloops, has 12 gladed areas to choose from, everything from green circle (easy) tree-filled runs, to moderate blue-square slopes and difficult black diamonds. Among our favourites were the Cahilty Glades off the Sunburst Express, the trees between Granny Greene's and Homesteader on Sundance, and Mt. Morissey's The Sticks.
But there are plenty of wide-open cruising runs at Sun Peaks, too. The resort's specialty, in fact, may be its extra-long cruisers -- a run called 5 Mile meanders the circumference of Mt. Tod, and is fantastic for gentle cruising. Sun Peaks has 122 runs in total across 3,678 skiable acres, plus seven lifts, a terrain park, a tubing run and a rink for skating.
The resort's Tyrolean-style village has several slopeside hotels, restaurants, a grocery store, a spa, and an aquatic centre. The Delta Sun Peaks Resort has its own outdoor heated pool that is perfect for families.
Back on the slopes, Greene had stopped -- a rare occurrence for this energetic Olympian. She pointed back up at the glades, and said: "You guys know Bode Miller, the American ski racer? He was here once for a Nor-Am race and missed his start because he thought he could squeeze one more run through Cahilty trees."
Emmett nodded his head. He was totally down with Bode. When you've got glades, who needs ski racing gates? Come to think of it, who needs washrooms?
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Making peace with winter
