Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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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42 comments:

  1. Ikaw na! Ikaw na ang pinaka-adventurous sa lahat ng kilala ko, Karen!

    I am sure you had a blast. Just looking at your smiles, without a shadow of a doubt, you all had a wonderful time. Di ba nakakatakot? Buti walang nagka-injury sa inyo, hehe!

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    Replies
    1. Wala naman nagka injury, thank God. Nakakatakot din konti lalo na sa ski lift yung pagbababa ka na kasi feeling mo mahuhulog ka pag angat ng bar. Hindi kami umakyat sa difficult trails. Nag stay lang kami sa beginner's trails, pero I'm sure kapag sa mga super steep and extremely difficult trails, baka feeling ko katapusan ko na nun. LOL.

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    2. Hahaha! Unang tingin ko pa nga lang eh, pag ako ang nandyan, feeling ko tigok nako sa takot, LOL!

      Hanga naman talaga ako sa tapang mo at kinaya ng spirit mo, hehehe! Kung akp yon, di ko alam san ako huhugot ng tapang, LOL!

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    3. Marami kasi kami kaya nagkalakasan na din ng loob. Nung pagdating na pagdating namin feeling ko nga magpapa-pichur lang ako, pero nung pipila na para bumili ng tickets, go na go na din ako. Adik lang. LOL.

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  2. hope maka experience din ako nyan :)

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  3. Sobra naman ako naiinggit sa mga escapades mo KM! Kasi lahat kakaiba. Yun bang tipong magkaka body pains ka pag minalas malas. Hahaha! Lahat ng na experience, hiniling ko din ma experience kaso lang hindi kasi ako sporty. Hehehe...

    Patapos na din ako mag pack KM. Ang kalat kalat nga sa room ko now. Di ko alam panu ko pagkakasyahin oras ko sa pagliligpit. Thanks sa dalaw ha! Hugs to u!

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    Replies
    1. Krizza, Alam mo bang hanggang ngayon masakit pa din ang katawan ko? LOL. Walang tigil ang inom ko ng Aleve pain reliever. Daig ko pa ang pinagsamantalahan ng sampung lalake sa sakit ng katawan ko. Haha!

      Glad to hear patapos ka na mag pack. Saan saan pa't matatapos din yan, di ba? ;) Ingat lagi!

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  4. Grabe! :) Mukhang ang fun-fun naman nito Ate K.
    Takot ko lang sa mga ganyan.. Pero ikaw po, ay all smiles to the camera pa! ♥

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  5. Very entertaining and informative post! And you're very brave to try skiing, learning it and doing it for the first time. Thumbs up :)

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  6. i'm sure sobrang fun mag ski-ing.. sana meron din yan dto sa pinas, malamang hindi yan lalampas sa mga palad ko este sa mga paa ko.. he he..enjoy ah!

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  7. Wow! I enjoyed so much reading your post:) your spirit for doing something challenging is just contagious:) Sarap mag tambay dito sa Blog mo at mabasa sa mga post mo. Keep it up, Miss Karen:)Visting you from my other blog kasi nag propagate pa yong tommyclaire na blog ko. Have a nice day!

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  8. Wow! I totally enjoyed reading this post! Sarap mag tambay dito at nakakahawa ang energy mo to do something challenging. I haven't done snow-skiing yet but with how you describe it, I think it worth the try. have a blessed week!Anyways Im visiting from my other blog kasi nag propagate pa yong isa ko pang blog.

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  9. Wow! supre like ko ito KM ang saya saya nyo, never pa talaga ako naka ski. Hopefully next year we can do skiing with my daughter.

    here  ,here's my another adventure.

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  10. awesome! never skii in my entire life yet :D looks fun and u must had fun i can tell. we never had snow adventure this yr. i'd love to skii someday though :D

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  11. oh my gosh, naka-punta ka na pala sa PA sis. you should visit our place too. tara skii tayo :)

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  12. Wow all I could see is white, sarap siguro mag skeeing ano?... Daming pictures din, love it. Visiting from TT here's my entry for TT thanks Points of View of Travels and Places

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  13. One of the adventures I want to try too! We have ski resorts here in our state but haven't been to one. One of these days I will take the courage to do so :-)

    Visiting for Tuesday Travels!

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  14. That looks really fun! Would love such experience :)

    Hope you can visit my page too!
    Have a great day!

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  15. It's fun trying and exciting, just don't make it an everyday activity ky grrrrr. Me too i prefer living with Mr. Sun that frosty the snowman.

    http://www.travel-nostalgiablog.com/

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  16. Wonderful experience and beautiful photos. Visiting from WW.

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  17. You are so adventurous, galing siguro ng mga stunts while skiing visiting from WW. Here's mine My Daily Mumbles thanks!

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  18. wow what a wonderful experience. I would love to try it too...visiting from TT hope you can drop by my entry

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  19. learned a lot from your post... hoping that one day, i can get to ski too! lol! i love the Darth Vader description. hahaha! visiting from WW!

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  20. wow thats a great experience sis! its good to try other stuff. =)

    from TT
    http://ourtravelsthrumylens.com/capt-jacks-pirate-ship-adventure/

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  21. wow! you are so bonggacious Sis Karen, skiing looks fun and what an adventure that is :-) Visiting from Tuesday Travels, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.tropical7107islands.com/2012/02/celebrated-her-4th-birthday-at-darien-lake-amusement-park.html

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  22. Visiting from Wednesday Whites Sis Karen, skiing sure looks fun and adventures :-) hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.adventurousjessy.com/2012/02/driving-my-kids-for-the-first-time.html

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  23. the first thing i thought when i saw the thumbnail on WW was 'KM won't/doesn't run out of adventures'. i laugh out loud on the 'Screaming will not slow you down' part. LOL.
    visiting for WW.

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  24. Cute naman ng mag-asawa:) Nag enjoy ka talaga sis, noh?

    Visiting for WW- hope you can stop by:)

    http://www.mommys4seasonsjourney.com/2012/03/hand-sanitizer.html

    ReplyDelete
  25. hmmm, would love to try that one day. too bad it doesn't snow in Manila. ;)

    visiting via TT:

    http://www.lowfatdiaries.com/2012/02/hong-kong-the-peak-tower/

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  26. hello sis! 1hr away ka lang man sa akin.. round top is 30mins i think. dito kami sa West York. neighbor lang tau. lagi kami pumupunta dyan sa Dutch Lancaster. mga kids ko gusto nila yung buggy ride. hehe

    from WHites..
    Virginia Beach
    Toddler Time

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  27. How fun! It's worth trying talaga! Wish I can go to a ski-dventure, too! Lol. Daming ski resort dito sa Central and North Wisconsin, but we never experienced skiing yet!

    Thanks for joining TT regularly, KM! I always enjoy your share!

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  28. Awe! Looking at your photos I can tell you had a great time at the ski. How awesome! I would love to try it to someday, maybe in Colorado. I hope! :) Visiting late via TT's last week's entry.

    Adin B

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  29. wow!!! i have gone skiing once, in my dream! LOL!!! Kakainggit.. love your photos! you really had a blast, obviously! Thanks for joining, KM. very sorry for the late visit!

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  30. ay galing nman. never tried skiing yet. looks fun


    mine is up http://jerlalou.blogspot.com/2012/03/cruising-to-alcatraz-island.html

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  31. what a fun that is Sis Karen :-) the pictures are beautiful too :-) you look like you are having a blast :-) Visiting from #79 of BPC, hope that you can return the visit too.

    http://www.kandhistools.com/drying-the-clothes-over-the-fence/

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  32. kelan pa kaya magsnow sa Pinas para makapag ski din.. hahaha.. manigas kaming lahat dito lol... nice photos sis. :) was here for 79 BPC :)

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  33. What a great experience! Beautiful photos:)

    Visiting for #79 challenge- hope you can stop by:)

    http://myrecipecollection.info/2012/03/shrimp-flavored-chips.html

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  34. how cool! I like skiing..I tried downhill, and it was nerve wracking in the beginning.

    Thanks for joining BPC!

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  35. That was a fun ski adventure! Buti ka pa, KM! Ako, never pa talagang nakapag-ski, kahit ang lalapit lang namin dito sa mga ski resorts! :D

    Visiting today for BPC!

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  36. thats a great experience KM! i would like to try skiing, maybe when the kids are older. =)

    from BPC
    http://mydailybabble.info/2012/03/snacking-on/

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  37. goodluck in your next ski adeventure sis!
    so much fun for sure..
    Visiting late from BPC79..have a nice day!
    http://www.irisjoehanna.com/2012/03/79366-befunky-photos.html

    ReplyDelete

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