At this point in the day, I know I’m done for. I’ve resolved immediately that as soon as I got off the ski lift, I would ski my little butt down the mountain and get back into bed. However, panic started to set in when our ski lift kept going and going, on and on for about 10 minutes. By the time we got off of it, 2 miles of ski slopes stood between me and my bed. I guess at that point my plan subconsciously evolved into hurting myself badly enough to warrant being snowmobiled off the mountain because I began repeatedly falling down this so-called “green” slope.
After my third tumble, I insisted I could not go on. I may have told Jonathan that I hated him. I may have insisted that he buy me a Michael Kors bag for Valentines’ day to make up for forcing me onto this mountain. I may have cried for the third time that morning. It wasn’t my proudest moment. Obviously, I should have still been in bed.
Somehow Jon convinced me to put my skis back on and I only fell one more time before reaching the base and my reward of sweet peppermint hot chocolate.
Now there is something powerful about being in a warm bar drinking hot chocolate after a traumatic experience such as mine. It makes you forget, much like the sweet smell of a baby’s head makes a mother forget the pain of childbirth. Yes, sipping hot cocoa in a warm a snuggly bar makes you agree to put your skis back on, get back on a ski lift, and try again.
Luckily at this point, I discovered the “magic carpet” ski lift (conveyor belt which carries you to the lift chair) which lead up to a nice and wide green slope perfect for novices such as myself and several other beginners between the ages of 3 and 8. The kids were very gracious to share their turf with me and I was much more relaxed for the remainder of the day.
Well until I fell and twisted my wrist. And then fell and twisted my wrist again. And then when my twisted wrist disallowed me to put any weight on my arm to put my skis back on, I had to walk down the mountain in my ankle crushing ski boots. So finally, at that point, I did what I should have done hours before- took a gondola home and went back to bed.
Day two of skiing was much more successful. First off, the couple that we went skiing with, Bianca and Paul, had all this fancy ski equipment such as boot warmers. They let me borrow these for my stiff ski boots and it was amazing how much easier my boots were to get on once the heat made them more pliable.
Secondly, I started my morning off right with a round of Tylenol. Then I successfully got onto the shuttle bus without getting trapped in the door. When we got to the ski lift Bianca gave me way better advice than Jonathan when she told me to just tell the operator that I was a beginner. When I did this, he actually pushed me forward and his partner reached out and stopped me right where I needed to wait for the chair. It was even more effortless than the magic carpet. I did however ride solo because Jonathan wasn’t willing to risk being assaulted by my skis again.
While riding the lift up, I spotted a short cut to my kid-friendly slope and easily skied down the mountain without a single fall. In fact, I continued my no falling trend all morning.
The only fall of Day 2 came when Jonathan convinced to get on a big kid ski lift. Getting on was simple enough, but I guess over the past two days I got used to my slow motion kid lift because I didn’t get out of the way in time when exiting and got smacked in the back of the head by the chair. I was humiliated, but managed to get out of the way before anyone exited on top of me. At this point, we took “The Four O-clock” run which leads all the way into town, dropping us right off at our condo.
Jonathan skied me home (what a gentleman!) and caught the shuttle back to hit some blacks before the lifts closed for the day. I spent the next two hours finishing The Girls From Ames in the comfort of my pajama pants. So to recap: Fall count on day one: 7; Fall count of day 2: 1. I definitely wasn’t the most skilled skier on the mountain, but I just might win the award for most improved.
Hi Laine,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jane and I'm with Dwellable and I hope that you won!
I was looking for blogs about the Four O’Clock run to share on our site and I came across your post...If you're open to it, shoot me an email at jane(at)dwellable(dot)com.
Hope to hear from you :)
Jane