By Claire Smallwood

Hey all,

If you've ever met me or my brother, you usually know within 5 minutes that we are obsessed with skiing. When Joey almost severed his arm in a car accident in May 2008, the only choice he had was to high-tail it to Hawaii to get away from the snowy-covered mountains he adores so much. Doctors weren't sure he was going to be able to ski the following season and worried that any accident might cause a reason to amputate! (No bueno!! obviously).

So, when Joey called and told us a year later that he met the love of his life and they were getting married, people were a bit shocked to learn that Estelle had never skied before. I am inspired by their commitment to support each other in whatever endeavor they so choose. Here are pictures from Estelle's first ski day ever. She is so tenacious—I remember hiking with her this summer except she was BAREFOOT! She never had a chance to ski because it was too expensive and no one in her family was there to support her. I am happy my sister-in-law is being afforded the opportunity to enjoy what her husband loves so much, and Joey seems convinced that she will be entering into the big-mountain competition in January in Revelstoke...

Enjoy these pictures....Who are YOU going to take skiing this winter?

Since I wrote this in November, Estelle has learned a hockey stop. She is working on writing something up for SheJumps! Very excited about it, just goes to show you don't have to have a lift pass and ski instructor to teach someone how to ski. I guess Joey was taking sips of tea and tugging her back up the hill every other run. So cute! Behind a lot of shejumpers there's definitely some hejumpers!