Haze of Love: Skiing is hard

I have lived in the Denver-metro area for 20 of my 23 1/2 years. And during the 3 1/2 years of college, I still came home to Denver for almost all of my school breaks. So the fact that I've never been skiing is a little weird. Since Matt grew up in flat, boring Kansas, he has a better excuse for having never been. But we both felt it was about time.

Today we set out on a crazy skiing adventure.

Apparently, crazy skiing adventures have to start RIDICULOUSLY early.

I was not happy to be awake at this hour, as evidenced by my "not happy to be awake" face, seen here:

I cheered up a little as I put on my really poofy layers.

We got all of our gear and we were rarin' to go!

I was still very happy at this point. That was all about to change.

I wish I had pictures of the awful morning lesson. But since most of those pictures would be of me crying on the ground, perhaps it's better I don't.

At the beginning of the lesson, we practiced in a small area at the bottom of the mountain. I guess some beginner's lessons at certain resorts have a little conveyor belt to take you up to the top of the practice area. Our lesson did not have that. We had to climb up the hill with skis on over and over again to practice. It was exhausting, and it made learning a little more difficult since so much of our energy was just spent getting to the top.

But we did it, and that part ended up being ok, I guess.

Now, I get very impatient when learning new things. Particularly if I'm not very good at them. And doubly particularly when the person teaching me is no help whatsoever. Our instructor wasn't awful, but she left out important bits of information that would have been extremely helpful. Like how to stop. She never said anything about stopping. It took me about 5 or 6 trips down our practice hill, and multiple falls before I realized that we didn't have to try and stop yet. We were going so slow that we naturally came to a stop as the hill leveled out. At that point, we were just supposed to be focusing on getting comfortable on the skis and learning to turn. Then later, we’d use the turn to stop on the big mountain. By the time I figured this out, everyone else had mastered the turns, and I was so focused on controlling my stopping that I was still falling down every time. I was so far behind the rest of the class at this point, that I was never able to catch up.

My other problem with the teacher: I have a really hard time learning something when the teacher keeps giving me the same information over and over even though I'm obviously not getting it. For example, she told me to lean forward and "wedge" with my skis. When I did this and still fell down, she told me to lean forward and wedge. And then when I again felt that I was doing exactly what she asked and I still fell down, she told me to lean forward and wedge. That obviously wasn't helping me! But she didn't try and find another way of explaining it or demonstrating it so that I would understand.

I don't blame the teacher entirely. Obviously, everyone else was able to get it. Matt didn't really like the way she taught us either, but he was able to understand her enough that it wasn't really a problem for him. But she frustrated me so much that I wasn't able to focus! I think a better teacher could have really helped me.

So basically, I ended up being the worst skier on the entire mountain today. I don't even think I'm exaggerating. We took the lift to the top of the mountain and then slowly made our way down, zig-zagging back and forth and stopping after each zig or zag to meet up with the group again. On every zig or zag I fell multiple times, and the entire group was waiting for me on the other side. I was slowing down the group so much, that I was given another teacher, and the whole class LEFT ME!

I was abandoned!

I started bawling. I had been holding in the tears until this point, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I was so frustrated and embarrassed and angry with myself. But being abandoned really ended up being a good thing because my new teacher was so helpful. She taught me how to do the wedge properly and told me that my boots were WAY too loose, making it so much more difficult for me. And, while crying like crazy, I made it down alive!

During all this, I was burning up! My new cute coat was extremely warm (way too warm for the temperature) and the zipper was stuck, so I was dieing from all the physical exertion. In a display of manly protectiveness, Matt grabbed each side of the coat and ripped the zipper apart, rescuing me. It was awesome - probably my favorite part of the whole day.

So I recovered from my morning skiing trauma, and snapped a picture of my exhausted self.

Matt, of course, picked everything up really quickly. He went back up the lift after the class ended, and was zooming down the mountain in no time. It makes me really angry that he was SO much better than me, but I'm glad he was having fun.

Matt's the guy in the middle:

After lunch, I was determined to go up again and get better! Matt stayed with me as I VERY slowly made my way down, falling A LOT, punching the snow a little, and crying a little more. My frustration was making the situation worse and keeping me from getting any better. But finally, a breakthrough! While reciting all the tips I'd learned from my second teacher aloud, I slowly zigged across the mountain, turned, and stopped! And I was still standing!! After that, I made it the rest of the way down without falling at all. (Until the very bottom, but that was on purpose because I was so tired.)

After my run down, my butt looked like this:

Interestingly, I only went down the mountain twice, but it completely kicked my butt. I feel physically exhausted. Falling down hurts, and then getting back up in those huge boots and akward skis is so difficult and tiring. My muscles are sore, and I have ridiculous bruises from falling and other pains from twisted knees and ankles.

But I did it, and I'm so proud of myself.

Matt went back another 4 or 5 times, while I drank Dr. Pepper, read my book, and took pictures. That was my second favorite part of the day.

Here he is after his last run: