Skiing

I went skiing yesterday!
It was epic!

I’m a beginner skier, by skill level not by time spent skiing.
My progress has been unfortunately slow.

This trip, I ended the day on skiing down some blue squares, so I was super proud of myself.

I remember my very first time skiing three years ago. I went up the tiniest hill at Nashoba Valley and made the famous “pizza” to go down. However, my skies, instead of pizza shaped, were two parallel french fries! I zoomed down, out of control at a heart attack inducing speed. I couldn’t even scream. I saw my life flash before my eyes.

I eventually fell. It was the biggest relief.

I went back to Nashoba Valley a couple of times and tried to descend down their blue square hills. I  skied tiny S-curves, going at snail pace. People lapping me would call out “you can do it red pants girl!”

Red pants girl was my monicker. From the first day, I wore super bright Cevas red ski pants given to me from a friend. Its color set me apart from everyone else.

I went skiing two weeks ago at Loon Mountain. Loon is Mount Everest compared to the tiny hills of Nashoba Valley. At the time, I haven’t skied in three years. I boldly chose to tackle a blue square on my first try. Right off the ski lift, first turn on the trail landed me among the bushes. Super shaken, I slowly walked down the hill in my skies. After a few confidence-instilling rounds on the green circle hills, I decided to go all the way up the mountain. Up at the top of the mountain, I was paralyzed with fear. There was no way I could ski down. I once again began my slow walk down. I joined up with another girl who was also walking. Eventually, the ski patrol spotted us and decided it was too dangerous for us to walk. They called the taxi.

The taxi was a toboggan that transported injured people. Both of us strapped onto the taxi and a snow patrol member dragged us down the mountain. Even with snow blasting in my face, it was a super fun ride, going faster down the mountain than I’ve ever been. However, I vowed not to repeat this incident.

Yesterday, at Mount Sunapee, there were no incidents. I tackled some greens and blues , inspired by my first-time-skiing friend, who seemed as seasoned as my veteran friends. There were a few tumbles, but nothing too terrifying. I did ski past some double black diamond drop offs. They looked like cliffs! I was super impressed with the little children that dove of the edge.

Out of the resorts I’ve skied at, for beginners, I’d rank Sunapee first, then Loon, then Nashoba Valley. Sunapee had nice, wide trails even on some blue squares. Loon had a beginner area that was interesting enough to curb boredom. Nashoba Valley had super easy trails compared to Sunapee and Loon, but they were short. For me, longer trails provided more chances to practice the maneuvers.

I’m definitely getting better at skiing. Next time, red pants might even be spotted a black diamond trail!