...for Nick.
All the rain that's been pounding California meant 7 feet of new snow in the past 5 days. 7 feet as of Friday. We were already scheduled to head to the mountains and Nick was chomping at the bit to get out and ski in some "freshies" - as they are known to the skiing elite.
I'm not a bad skier. I'm a solid intermediate/advanced. I can get down almost anything but it might take me a little while and I might be slightly annoyed by the time I get to the bottom, but I can keep up.
So we get to the top of the lift this morning, taking it easy down a groomer when I see Nick b-line for 2 feet of fresh powder. We hadn't discussed where we would meet if separated and the website said "Deep snow conditions exist - ski and ride with a buddy and keep your buddy in view." I figured he was my buddy and I needed to keep him in sight....I'm such a fool.
He made it to the bottom in about 30 seconds flat. I started going down, promptly buried both of my skis and flew head first into the powder - leaving the skis behind me 6 feet. I then proceeded to dig out my skis and spend another 5-10 minutes trying to get it back on in the powder. Getting skis on in powder is like trying to run a half marathon - it can be done, but you're really tired after and probably a little bit sweaty. I get it on and proceed to fall at least half a dozen more times. Nick is no where in sight, but Lisa was doing her best to coax me down. I kept burying my skis and somehow managed to fall with my foot and ski flying out from behind me....not once....not twice....but three times. I think it was really entertaining. At this point I had expended all of my energy for the day. I had snow up my back and my goggles were starting to fog. I was a mess.
I ended up making it to the end of the day relatively unscathed. Nick was in powder heaven and thankfully neither of us had to drive home. My quads will be hurting tomorrow, in fact.....they're already starting to stiffen up. But it was an awesome day and we had a great time....I just need to figure out how to ski in the powder.
2 comments:
I had this same day years ago at Sun Valley. Steve told me I was doing it all wrong and gave me some pointers on how to handle it but it was really the beginning of the end for me and skiing. Hope you work out a better solution!
lock your knees and skis together, lean back slightly, keep your knees bent/weight low, and don't force turns.
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