Kent and I spent Saturday on a skiing day trip. We left home around 6 am, got to the resort around 9, and got set up. In the spirit of experimentation (what works for me in a ski? what doesn't?) I ponied up an extra $10 to rent demo skis for the day. Demo skis are the up-to-date models in different stiffnesses, lengths, brands, etc, and you can try as many as you want during the day. I started out with some 1630 mm mid-stiff skis, and we started out.
The first run was hard. The snow was a bit icy, and I was having a hard time controlling the skis. I went back and got the "softer" skis. Unfortunately they didn't have the length that worked so well for me last week (1560mm), but I was told that there may be a learning curve.
Well, if a learning curve means falling every 50-100 feet and being unable to keep my feet directly under me, then I had a learning curve. I could do short periods of good control but then it would get shot all to hell when I would catch an edge and fall. I did a few runs before lunch, then got the shorter version (1490mm) and those were trouble too. No matter what I was trying, I could not control the skis well. I should have gotten the plain vanilla rentals, those were working a lot better for me last week.
By the early afternoon, the snow was in full spring mode. Big puddles of slush in the sun, ice in the shade of trees. In case you should wonder, these randomly placed, wildly swinging friction coefficients didn't help my control problems.
By 2:30 I was really frustrated and exhausted. Kent wanted to go up once more and get a movie of some ski moves. I ignored my own advice not to do it since I was already tired. So we went up, I took forever getting down a steep section (and falling 3 times), took the movie, then when I started down again I somehow caught an edge, spun all the way around, and ended up bouncing the back of my head off the snowpack.
If I was mad before, it was nothing compared to after that fall. I was totally wound up, and between that, being so tired, and being afraid of falling more, I was this close to sitting down and crying on the slope. Unfortunately the best way down a mountain is just to point the ski tips and go, so I did that instead. I fell asleep as soon as I was in the car and have several bruises and a bit of whiplash as souvenirs of the trip.
Fortunately, no hematomas. I think I would still have bounced my head and strained my neck muscles even if I had a helmet (which, BTW, are very hard to find right now).
Yesterday was spent catching up on sleep, painting doors, and refilling my yard waste bin. And eating too much sugar. I managed to get several boxes of Peeps for use as art supplies later in the year. Stay tuned on that. All I need is time.
3 comments:
And that's exactly why I don't ski anymore.
I keep getting tricked by good days where I build up some confidence. :P
Memories of Eldora in the spring!! Puddles alternating with sheets of ice, nowhere worse than on Beaver's Revenge.
Vail and a number of other large in-state venues are mandating helmets for kids and on-hill employees next year. The story also mentioned Heavenly Valley going that direction.
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