Be Happy : #13- Learning to ski- take 2

I am down to 29. Last weekend I learned to ski- while I’m a long way from the Olympic podium I can say I’ve come away from it relatively unscathed and I think I’d even do it again.

Here is the breakdown of our fun filled weekend. We arrived at Calabogie Peaks after work on Friday afternoon/evening and checked into our condo. We were all super impressed with the condo, lots of space in the two bedrooms, the kitchen was well stocked (although missing a few essentials), a fireplace in the living room and a spectacular view of the slopes (the very steep looking slopes I might add)

We started the weekend off with a smorgasbord of food Friday night- we had bruschetta, greek dip, nacho dip, buffalo chicken wings (weight watchers- aka- fat camp - friendly), hashborwn casserole, greek pasta salad, and chips…and lots and lots of wine. We also had an apple dip that we obliterated in about 10 minutes….it is healthy because there are apples right????

Friday evening had many laughs….maybe a bit too many since the neighbors knocked and asked us to keep it down at one point. We also had some great music- see below for a backstreet boys tribute video.

Saturday morning we got up and headed to the slope- albeit a little later than originally planned perhaps due to the over consumption of wine the night before. It took about 45 minutes for Lindsay, Joanna and I to get our rentals, put on the ski boots (that’s a work out in and of itself) and then get to the hill. We started on the small practice hill. There is a conveyor belt that you basically stand on that takes you to the top of a very small hill. The hill was full of mostly children and a few adults learning to snowboard. Lindsay had skied before but not for a few years- she was wanting to get used to being back on skis too so came with us to help us get our footing. She did a very lovely snowplow down the slope. It was a very controlled back and forth using the whole hill to maintain her speed. I on the other hand flailed my way down the hill, and Joanna didn’t move from the top (I thought “oh boy its going to be a long day.”)

Lindsay and I headed back up the conveyor belt and went down that small hill a couple more times and were eventually able to coax Joanna down with us. Then it was off to the chairlift. This was my first time on a chairlift on skis and Joanna’s first time altogether. There was a lot of screeching as we got on the lift and as it whisked us off. Joanna has the most wonderful laugh and giggle that I’m sure could be heard all over the hill. Its infectous and so we were all laughing. It was a busy day on the hill so they were making sure there were four to a seat. An older gentleman who was a principle at a local highschool got on with us- clearly someone who’d been skiing for sometime- we apologized for our giggling, screeching and carrying on and he said- “that’s no problem- I can’t wait to see you get off- its going to be great fun…”

We met the rest of our party at the top of the hill. Plan was to take the easiest route down. Emily who thought she knew the hill quite well said- we just go this way. My only other experience with skiing on an easy hill was in Alice- my recollection of it was that it would have a small hill then a flatter stretch to recover on…this hill did not have either a small hill or a flat stretch. At one point I turned around and looked at Alicia who had this look of fear on her face and said- “um yeah- this isn’t the bunny hill.” Well SHIT!

So Joanna stuck with Emily and Lindsay I stayed with Alicia and Kelsey and we managed to make our way down the hill. I think we eventually were able to cross over to an easier hill but that first part was treacherous. I tumbled a few times on that trip but nothing too major.

The next time up we hit the proper trail from the beginning. We had a young boy on the lift with us this time. He told us he was a ski racer and last year won a big medal at a local competition. He heard us talking about our new skiing woes and offered to give us some tips (he was about 10 years old). So he took the trail with us but after the first section went off on his own. When we got to the bottom I saw him and said jokingly “Hey buddy I thought your were going to give us some tips”- he said-“yeah I kind of think its hopeless!” well okay then!

Off for the third round! We went up again and down the same hill- we were slowly getting the hang of it but it was a challenge at best. After that run we headed in for lunch. We went back to the condo and snacked on some more great food, mostly left overs from the night before and a veggie dip. While we were there we turned on the Olympics and watched the women’s moguls- we watched the three Dufour-Lepointe sister race and were a bit inspired so headed back out. Not to do the moguls of course- but to do some more skiing.

By this time I really thought we were getting the hang of things. My biggest challenge continued to be maintaining a slower speed. As soon as I hit a slope of any kind I would just continue to gain speed. Although the speed didn’t bother me it was my inability to steer and slow down if someone was in front of me. At one point I was coming up behind Lindsay at an alarmingly fast rate. I was trying to slow down but once you gain a certain amount of speed, doing the pizza doesn’t really do you much good. I screamed “Lindsay!” I’m not sure why- I guess just to get her attention in case I did plow into her - but the loss of concentration caused a total wipe out. I went down to the side, started twisting on my back down and down the hill. Lindsay looked back just in time to see me stop and hear my hysterical laughter. I didn’t lose my skis so I guess it wasn’t too bad. Getting back up was a bit of a feat- not so much because of the way I had landed but because I was laughing so hard. That was the worst of the falls all weekend.

We did a few more runs at finished our last run by 4:00. We were exhausted from all that fresh air and exercise. We went back to the condo and had a few drinks to start and snacks and then had a big spaghetti dinner. A friend told me that the best thing to have after a day of skiing was pasta and man was he right. It hit the spot. We cleaned up and by 7:00 we moved to the living room. Emily fell asleep on the sofa and the rest of us had a pretty quiet evening. It was off to bed by 9:30 or 10 and we all slept pretty soundly. How could you not after a day like that.

Sunday morning we had to be up early as check out was 10:00am. When I woke up I swear every bone in my body ached. Even my toes hurt as I walked downstairs. We got cleaned up and packed up and since our package included a second day of rentals and lift tickets we had planned to do a few runs in the morning just to get our moneys worth. I figured we’d loosen up once we got on the hill. We tried to convince Joanna to join us for day 2 but she said- “I just put my coat on and it hurt a lot I’m not going again today.”

So only Emily, Lindsay and I made it for day two. I continued to stick to the easy hill but by our last run really thought I was getting the hang of it. I controlled my speed a bit better sometimes (although not always) and certainly had a bit more confidence when I did gain speed. We only skied till noon on Sunday and that was enough. We were pretty tired so grabbed a couple of beer and a plate of nachos and headed home.

The skiing was lots of fun but I also really enjoyed the atmosphere of the ski hill. Hanging around the lodge and watching people was a lot of fun and watching people on the hill was great. We met lots of wonderful people on the chair lift and lots of them even offered to help us out and do a run or two with us. Anytime any of us fell someone would stop to see if we needed help. It was great to see family’s out doing it together and I couldn’t believe how many young children were on the hill (skiing circles around me I might add!)It’s definitely a hobby I would consider doing more and hope to get out a few more times this year.

All in all a successful weekend; although I’m not proclaiming to be a proficient skier by any means I certainly feel I can cross it off the list! I am officially down to 29!

Condo - view from loft