I have been “skiing” one time in my life. I say “skiing” because actually I spent more time on the ground or in the lodge. And that was 25 years ago–yeah, I said 25 years. So when my husband, Bobby, and I took a trip to Massachusetts to visit family for the holidays and our nieces and nephew and cousin said they were going skiing at Ski Bradford I thought it would be fun to give it a second try. This time though, I decided to not get frustrated if I fell down. I told myself I would take the skis off to get up instead of getting mad when I wasn’t able to push myself off the ground while wearing skis.
While the young ones (Nicole, Courtney, Daniel and Colin) headed out to hit the slopes, I started to lose my nerve. Before we left the house they said the hills were small. But when we turned into the drive my first thought was, “this is small!?!” Their idea of small and my idea are of small are two different things. Even though Colin had never skied before, he didn’t hesitate. He was offered lessons, but he told Michelle, my sister-in-law, “Every fall is a lesson to learn from, Auntie.” And Nicole and Courtney who have been skiing since grade school, have no fear.
I needed a little more convincing. Michelle and Bobby talked me into taking a lesson. Because I missed the group lessons, I signed up for a private lesson. Good thing, too, because otherwise I would have given up as soon as I got the skis on!
After signing up for the lesson, I had to go rent the ski boots, skis and helmet. (By the way, if you ever go, get a helmet. I’ll tell you why it’s important later.) Before even getting the skis, I had to initial and sign an agreement that I understood I was not going to sue, should anything bad happened. Talk about being intimidated!
Then I filled out the form so they could get me my gear. The boots were 10’s, the skis 400’s and the helmet large. What can I say, I have a big head.
After a quick tutorial on how to get the boots on, I had to do it myself. Trust me, not as easy as it looks. Next the helper showed me how to put the skis on and off. This became valuable information later on.
Then with Michelle and Bobby in tow, we made our way to lessons area. Michelle got me on the skis and somehow, without falling, I made it the pole with 5 minutes to spare. Turns out that I had two instructors, Kalyn and Isabella (Bella).
Let me say right now that those girls were terrific. They were very encouraging and supportive. They didn’t once get frustrated with me, even when I took them down — more than once. They let me go at a pace that was comfortable to me. But they also challenged me to stretch myself.
When you ski there is a lot to remember. Not only do you have to maintain your balance, but you have to keep your hands forward, your knees bent, your shins against the boot, and your eyes looking up from the ground. You have to somehow spread your skis apart to make a triangle to stop, but cross them over each other. Or to go, put them parallel. During my lesson I did a lot of starting and stopping. Although I joked with my instructors about doing rolling stops. I eventually came to a stop, but I couldn’t stop on a dime.
After an hour, the lesson was over. All told I fell just three times, but the last was pretty hard. That is why I recommend the helmet. When you lose your balance and you are falling, it is very difficult to know how to keep your head from hitting the ground. Mine hit hard. I would hate to think of how my head might have gotten hurt had I not been wearing the helmet. (Bobby was too kind to take a picture of me planted on the ground. The picture below is one of Colin’s lessons. I am sure I didn’t look as good as him when I fell.)
Did I keep that from me going out on the slopes again…well I’ll let you know. I’m writing this in the lodge while I wait for the Advil to kick in.
UPDATE: So to answer the question, I didn’t let the near concussion keep me down for too long. I put my skis back on and headed back to the learning slope. I went down a few more times. I ended the night with one nice final run… for me. It was a fun night. Everyone had a great time. And well, if I don’t go back for 25 years, that’s okay.
