MY FIRST SKI-DVENTURE

You most likely know by now that I'm more of a li'l mermaid than a snow bunny - I'd rather find Nemo than play with Frosty the Snowman - BUT I do have a good sense of adventure especially for the outdoors, that if given the chance to ski, no matter how hesitant I might be, I would try it anyway, right?  You bet!

Last Saturday, I went on a ski trip with Vince and his co-residents at Ski Roundtop in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania.  There were eight of us, and two in our group have skiied before; one of the two actually has her own ski gears.  The rest of us were all first timers.

My original plan was to stick with snow tubing (which I didn't get to do and haven't done yet ever).  However, we got excited when we saw the slopes and all the people skiing there, so the five of us signed up for a group basic ski lesson, and our other friend for group basic snowboard lesson.

It took us so long to get our gears from the rental shop, much longer putting our ski boots on!  Oh my!  You are not going to believe how heavy and hard those ski boots and skis are, and how painstaking it is to walk on those Darth Vader boots (that's what Vince calls them).  By the time we got on the snow, my feet were already picket fencing in protest and ready to disassemble from the rest of my body!

Anyway, I managed to stand and survive the boots, and went ahead with our lesson.  I was doing okay in the beginning, but then I struggled with gaining control, making turns, and stopping.  I got towed and rescued by our instructor so many times, especially on higher trails.   Good thing is he's a really nice and funny guy, so I was maybe embarrassed a bit when I kept on falling and all that, but it wasn't humiliating.  Vince, on the other hand, was impressive!   He really skiied well, and I think he only fell once during our lesson.  Each of us had a rolling-down-the-hill, butt-skidding, flopping-down-on-fours-from-the-ski lift blooper moment. LOL.

After an hour of ski lesson, I was all sweaty (it was a fine warm winter day at 9 degrees Celsius) and so thirsty that when we got down, I gulped a bottle of water, took off my jacket, kicked off my ski/Darth Vader boots, and rested for a while.  Vince and our three other friends went back uphill to ski/snowboard, while I and another friend stayed down to rest.  When we both started to feel a bit chilly, we went back to the bunny slopes and practiced skiing until it was time to go home.  I didn't take any more chances of riding the ski lift and going uphill, as I wanted to work on my turns and control first to gain more confidence, and hopefully the next time we go on a ski trip, I'll spend more time on the slopes with my ski than my bum! LOL.

So, did I learn anything?  A lot. TGIF - Toe Goes In First when putting on the ski.  Walk sideways when going uphill. Don't look at your skis when skiing - they're not mood skis, they don't change color.  Turn your head to the direction you're turning.  Lean forward, not backward.   "Pizza" to stop.  Make a turn to slow down, and traverse across the slope.   Put your weight onto the balls of your feet and not on your heels.   Screaming will not slow you down.  Same goes for panicking.  LOL.  Ski poles do not work like brakes!   If you find that you can't stop, drop on your bum and scoot, but be sure to do it soon enough to avoid collision.   Trust me, it's always closer than what you think. Hehe.

At the end of the day, we were all happy with our ski-dventure.   We definitely had a great and memorable first time.  It was a fun and wonderful experience - something that's worth of a second and nth time in the future ;)

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