5 o'clock Saturday morning could not come fast enough for me, because 5 o'clock meant my ski adventure was really about to begin. Since moving in with Kiegan she has talked of little else aside from skiing or snowboarding and how she was intent on taking me with her on one of her ski trips this winter. Every time she brought this up I would begin to laugh and say something along the lines of, "Kiegan, I really don't think you know what you're getting yourself into saying things like this.". I tried to explain to her that I've never been skiing, I'm not sure I understand the concept, and that it would be extremely difficult for me to learn seeing as I have very little coordination. She brushed all of these warnings aside, picked a date that worked for both of us and handed me a pair of extra ski clothes. It was done, I was signed up to be on a bus headed for the alps early Saturday morning and I was equal parts nerves and excitement. So, at 6:00 we were off, Kiegan, Sandie, and I bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to take on whatever this mountain was going to give us…..that is until we saw the mountain. Naturally, Kiegan was ready for it all, but when she pointed the "bunny slope" out to me I nearly started to cry (a feeling that rested with me for the remainder of the day). After a short lesson on pizza pie and french fries I was hungry and in no mood to go up to the top of this "bunny slope" where I was without a doubt going to pummel down to my death. We got off of the little frisbee swings that took us to the top and met a steep hill that required a rather sharp turn. So, like a baby I stood at the top and listed all of the reasons I did not think it was possible for me to go down. Unfortunately, I had no other option. With the coaching of Kiegan I went down little by little. By the time we made the turn I have no doubt that Kiegan was wondering why she didn't listen to me when I told her this wouldn't be good, I don't doubt this because I kept screaming it at her when I body slammed into her over and over because I couldn't control my skis. Sandie on the other hand looks like a ballerina swan compared to me as she makes graceful turns and glides down the hill of death. About mid-bunny and 12 wipe-outs down my confidence begins to rise and I start to see signs of improvement, which means I pushed Kiegan away declaring that I was a baby bird that needed to be pushed out of the nest, plus she needed to go do a more extreme hill instead of worrying about me and Sandie. At this declaration Kiegan decided she would go down the rest of this slope and come back to meet us wherever we were. I hope it comes with a little surprise to hear that Sandie and I did not leave the nest, we just waited for the mother bird to come back before we moved.
 |
| Sandie and Kiegan pre-ski |
All-in-all, ski-lesson and hill of death together took us about 2.5 hours and I was convinced there was no hope for me. So instead of resigning ourselves to another hour of trying to make it down a slope we found a fresh mound of snow and had a picnic. Over lunch we discussed how I spent more time on the ground than standing up and how Sandie was using her years of dance and skating to make it down like the ballerina-swan that she is. We mapped out our next route because it was made very obvious that Sandie and I were not going back down the beast. I was giving myself one more try to get the hang of it before I found a hot chocolate and some strangers to talk to while the other two sped along with the other more advanced skiers. We packed up our bags and got in line to take the frisbee swings back up the hill. Not sure why the girls left me to be last going up, I guess they had more confidence in me than they should have because I caught my frisbee and within seconds of it pulling me forward I was down, so I scrambled like an idiot to the side trying to get out of the way of the other people rapidly moving towards me and then I realized I can't get up with my skis on without Kiegan there to help me balance. The awkward teenager working the frisbees came to help me get out of the way and I started rambling about how I had no idea what I was doing and he needed to help me get up or out of my dern skis. He opted for the second option, wise boy. Determined to try again I put my skis back on and got back in line, being the total spazz on skis that I am I fell again, which resulted in the same actions except this time I asked for advice, because I forgot that awkward teenage boys probably have the answer they just need a little push to give it it you. As I was snapping my skis back on armed with more false confidence I saw Kiegan flying down the mountain to come to my aid (for at this point Sandie and Kiegan had been waiting for about 10-15 minutes) She got in line with me, took my ski poles and between her and the awkward teenage boy coaching me through it I managed to make it up. For a much better description of the frisbee like thing and my whole experience all-together go
HERE.
Once at the top we headed on our new path, thank goodness. It started out flat and led us to a mini-hill where we were practically alone so without fear of running into other people I started to ski!! I fell at the bottom as I was screaming "SANDIE SANDIE LOOK AT ME I'M SKIING!!!" It was awesome. So at that Kiegan left us and Sandie and I slowly made our way down the slope. I was really starting to get the hang of the turns and would fall about every 3 turns because I was going too fast, but I was doing it! We did one more run down the beast/hill of death and then called it a day. Kiegan did some slopes on her own while Sandie and I discussed our successes and how lucky we were to be skiing in the alps.
Today, the day after skiing, I have bruises all over my body and I am sore in places I am positive did not exist before now. Next time I put on a pair of skis I imagine they will be of the cross-country variety. However, this experience was not lost on me. I had a great time bonding with my roommates giggling all day and getting to notice even the smallest amounts of progress in my skiing skills.
 |
| Me at the end of the day at the bottom of "the beast" |
5 o'clock Saturday morning could not come fast enough for me, because 5 o'clock meant my ski adventure was really about to begin. Since moving in with Kiegan she has talked of little else aside from skiing or snowboarding and how she was intent on taking me with her on one of her ski trips this winter. Every time she brought this up I would begin to laugh and say something along the lines of, "Kiegan, I really don't think you know what you're getting yourself into saying things like this.". I tried to explain to her that I've never been skiing, I'm not sure I understand the concept, and that it would be extremely difficult for me to learn seeing as I have very little coordination. She brushed all of these warnings aside, picked a date that worked for both of us and handed me a pair of extra ski clothes. It was done, I was signed up to be on a bus headed for the alps early Saturday morning and I was equal parts nerves and excitement. So, at 6:00 we were off, Kiegan, Sandie, and I bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to take on whatever this mountain was going to give us…..that is until we saw the mountain. Naturally, Kiegan was ready for it all, but when she pointed the "bunny slope" out to me I nearly started to cry (a feeling that rested with me for the remainder of the day). After a short lesson on pizza pie and french fries I was hungry and in no mood to go up to the top of this "bunny slope" where I was without a doubt going to pummel down to my death. We got off of the little frisbee swings that took us to the top and met a steep hill that required a rather sharp turn. So, like a baby I stood at the top and listed all of the reasons I did not think it was possible for me to go down. Unfortunately, I had no other option. With the coaching of Kiegan I went down little by little. By the time we made the turn I have no doubt that Kiegan was wondering why she didn't listen to me when I told her this wouldn't be good, I don't doubt this because I kept screaming it at her when I body slammed into her over and over because I couldn't control my skis. Sandie on the other hand looks like a ballerina swan compared to me as she makes graceful turns and glides down the hill of death. About mid-bunny and 12 wipe-outs down my confidence begins to rise and I start to see signs of improvement, which means I pushed Kiegan away declaring that I was a baby bird that needed to be pushed out of the nest, plus she needed to go do a more extreme hill instead of worrying about me and Sandie. At this declaration Kiegan decided she would go down the rest of this slope and come back to meet us wherever we were. I hope it comes with a little surprise to hear that Sandie and I did not leave the nest, we just waited for the mother bird to come back before we moved. 
All-in-all, ski-lesson and hill of death together took us about 2.5 hours and I was convinced there was no hope for me. So instead of resigning ourselves to another hour of trying to make it down a slope we found a fresh mound of snow and had a picnic. Over lunch we discussed how I spent more time on the ground than standing up and how Sandie was using her years of dance and skating to make it down like the ballerina-swan that she is. We mapped out our next route because it was made very obvious that Sandie and I were not going back down the beast. I was giving myself one more try to get the hang of it before I found a hot chocolate and some strangers to talk to while the other two sped along with the other more advanced skiers. We packed up our bags and got in line to take the frisbee swings back up the hill. Not sure why the girls left me to be last going up, I guess they had more confidence in me than they should have because I caught my frisbee and within seconds of it pulling me forward I was down, so I scrambled like an idiot to the side trying to get out of the way of the other people rapidly moving towards me and then I realized I can't get up with my skis on without Kiegan there to help me balance. The awkward teenager working the frisbees came to help me get out of the way and I started rambling about how I had no idea what I was doing and he needed to help me get up or out of my dern skis. He opted for the second option, wise boy. Determined to try again I put my skis back on and got back in line, being the total spazz on skis that I am I fell again, which resulted in the same actions except this time I asked for advice, because I forgot that awkward teenage boys probably have the answer they just need a little push to give it it you. As I was snapping my skis back on armed with more false confidence I saw Kiegan flying down the mountain to come to my aid (for at this point Sandie and Kiegan had been waiting for about 10-15 minutes) She got in line with me, took my ski poles and between her and the awkward teenage boy coaching me through it I managed to make it up. For a much better description of the frisbee like thing and my whole experience all-together go HERE.
Once at the top we headed on our new path, thank goodness. It started out flat and led us to a mini-hill where we were practically alone so without fear of running into other people I started to ski!! I fell at the bottom as I was screaming "SANDIE SANDIE LOOK AT ME I'M SKIING!!!" It was awesome. So at that Kiegan left us and Sandie and I slowly made our way down the slope. I was really starting to get the hang of the turns and would fall about every 3 turns because I was going too fast, but I was doing it! We did one more run down the beast/hill of death and then called it a day. Kiegan did some slopes on her own while Sandie and I discussed our successes and how lucky we were to be skiing in the alps. 
Laughing so hard - tears!
ReplyDeletehilarious! This is why you stay at the bottom with hot chocolate. -Mary Beth
ReplyDelete