Mid-February Update: How Camp Is Like Skiing

by Ariella Rogge on February 14

There has been a series of Progressive commercials featuring “the back-up player” (typically a professional athlete) who subs you out when things like dealing with a wasps’ nest, taxes or backing up a trailer seems a little overwhelming (or just annoying).

Clever as they are, we actually forget how often using “back-up players” ends up being more successful for us as individuals, parents, camp directors and educators–because it creates a more successful outcome for our kids.

This weekend, I am going to help my 6 year old godson learn to ski…but, even though I will be “back-up” to his mom, my secret weapon will be my 16 year old son who is also going to ski with us (at least for a little while). When my boys were learning to ski, we would regularly go from screams to smiles depending on which “cool” person had dropped in to do a run with us. Both boys pushed themselves to go faster, make better turns and–frankly–try harder if they were skiing with one of the awesome younger Sanborn staff members who was on the mountain. One of the things my preschool/elementary aged kids would do (that always put a lump in my throat) was barrel into the trees following these older guys/gals who had been skiing 4-6 times as long as either of them–whooping and yelling all the way. They always came out of the trees exhilarated, proud of themselves, feeling like cool and more competent skiers.

Similarly, when we send our kids to camp, we are relegating part of the control we typically exert day-in and day-out over the lives of our kids…and that is good for them and good for us. We all need a variety of input and information from different sources to help us define and refine our character strengths and values and to attempt to figure out our place in this complex, unique world. We all think our kids are the best–and it is even more significant when other adults in the world also see them as amazing individuals, too.

As a mom, I have to remind myself of a key reality: I am not cool. I may be fun (sometimes) funny (only to me) and have a great deal of experience* (*relevance is in the eye of the beholder) but I am– personally–not wholly who or what my boys aspire to be or achieve in their lives. And I’m good with that. There are situations as a mom where, even though I know my sons better than anyone, I am happy to rely on the strengths of others–especially if they do things a little differently than I would.

Did I always appreciate the colorful language that came out of the trees, or the braggadocio of the unwitnessed turns, or the (ongoing) desire for better equipment that came out of those adventures with “the big boys”–probably not. Yet the confidence gained and the humility experienced when they recognized those guys didn’t HAVE to ski with them have been lasting and impactful lessons…and is why my youngest will ski in “Magic Forest” again this week, showing another young grom how to ski in control (physically and emotionally) while his mom and I look on.

Plus it is good to remember, when your kids come back out of the trees (or come home from camp), they will have the most amazing stories of adventure, bravery, excitement and growth–and they can’t wait to tell you everything.

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Ariella Rogge
About Ariella Rogge

Ariella started her career at Sanborn when she was twelve. After five years of camper and five years of Sanborn staff experience, she continued her work with kids in the high school classroom. Ariella and her family returned to Sanborn in 2001 to take on the Program Director role which she held til 2012. She and Elizabeth Marable became co-directors of High Trails in 2013 and then Ariella became the High Trails Director in 2020. In the fall of 2022 she became the Director of Sanborn Western Camps, overseeing the director teams of both Big Spring and High Trails. She lists mountain golf, Gymkhana, climbing mountains and making Pad Thai in the backcountry as some of her favorite activities at camp. Ariella received a B.A. in English from Colorado College and is a certified secondary English educator,an ACCT Level 2 Ropes Course Technician, an ARC lifeguard and NREMT and WEMT. She lives in Florissant in the summer and in Green Mountain Falls during the school year so she can stay involved with the busy lives of her husband, Matt, and two sons, Lairden and Karsten.