Skiing at school

One of the fun things about school in Hokkaido during the winter term is that skiing is part of the curriculum. In every school playground (and they're quite large here) the accumulated snow is piled together into a mini-mountain. The younger children have several classes each winter learning how to walk uphill in skis and then skiing down the gentle slope. The older children would find that too boring so head off to a local mountain for more serious stuff. This morning Lorna joined some other volunteer mothers to help the 7 year olds on the mini snow mountain. It had been snowing overnight so some of the children were getting stuck in the snow in their skis just walking over to the slope - then they had to manoeuvre their way to the top! All children here learn skiing from a young age; most in fact go to ski schools at the mountains during the long winter holidays. And, as an added bonus, if your income is at a certain level, the local government pays for new skis and equipment every three years. All our boys have had the opportunity to learn skiing at mountains almost right on our doorstep - and with the guarantee of snow on tap for several months of the year.