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From Twitter 01-08-2011
Jan. 9th, 2011 02:14 am- 07:19:55: RT @danphilpott: Achievment unlocked - Kitty is now accepting tummy rubs: http://yfrog.com/h2n3olj
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Jan. 9th, 2011
deliberate falling
Jan. 9th, 2011 09:38 pmI wasn't necessarily planning to ski when we went up to Gatlinburg.
I wasn't necessarily not planning to either. I knew it was on the itinerary and in the spirit of "fortune favoring the prepared" I packed a ski bib I got somewhere, who knows when ago, just in case. So when my sister-in-law suggested visiting the ski resort for the nieces first lesson, I figured, well, DID pack this huge fluffy thing and I've gone without real exercise for too many days...
...and by the time we drove up the hill and got through the lines, I was committed, lemme tell you! Evidently the holiday season + snow = one of the ~5 busiest days of the year for ski resorts (who knew? Skiers, of which I am not one) and it took 2 hours to rent all of our equipment, suit up, and get to the training slope.
An hour of instruction was required for beginners, and I'm grateful for it - my only other skiing experience as a child didn't, and I remember mostly lying in the snow, freezing. In that hour I learned how to put on/take off the skis and how to turn and slow myself down. I managed one or two times down the very flat slope and I kind of get the appeal - the slow build of speed and focused trajectory. The nieces picked it up even faster, and though each fell once, that was about it.
I fell quite a lot, but most of it was on purpose. I got the theory but not the practice of slowing down and the "bunny slope" was so packed with people who wouldn't get out of the way that I wiped out multiple times to avoid collisions. SIL had gone down the slope for real skiers while we were in training, and suggested another beginner's slope that was less crowded.
It was NOT a beginner's slope after all, but none of us realized that until we'd accelerated way past our comfort levels and tumbled to the bottom. The catch holding the skis to my boots were HARD to get off and wore out my arms far more than my legs. SIL commended us for taking the chance, and I was glad too, as part of my new year's resolutions (more in a later post) is to push my comfort zones.
Through it all, I was not as cold as I remembered or expected to be - having the correct cold-weather gear made a huge difference. So does adrenaline :P
I think I could get used to skiing given more practice at a much less crowded resort, but no idea when that will happen. The bib came back along with everything else, so I'm prepared at least.
I wasn't necessarily not planning to either. I knew it was on the itinerary and in the spirit of "fortune favoring the prepared" I packed a ski bib I got somewhere, who knows when ago, just in case. So when my sister-in-law suggested visiting the ski resort for the nieces first lesson, I figured, well, DID pack this huge fluffy thing and I've gone without real exercise for too many days...
...and by the time we drove up the hill and got through the lines, I was committed, lemme tell you! Evidently the holiday season + snow = one of the ~5 busiest days of the year for ski resorts (who knew? Skiers, of which I am not one) and it took 2 hours to rent all of our equipment, suit up, and get to the training slope.
An hour of instruction was required for beginners, and I'm grateful for it - my only other skiing experience as a child didn't, and I remember mostly lying in the snow, freezing. In that hour I learned how to put on/take off the skis and how to turn and slow myself down. I managed one or two times down the very flat slope and I kind of get the appeal - the slow build of speed and focused trajectory. The nieces picked it up even faster, and though each fell once, that was about it.
I fell quite a lot, but most of it was on purpose. I got the theory but not the practice of slowing down and the "bunny slope" was so packed with people who wouldn't get out of the way that I wiped out multiple times to avoid collisions. SIL had gone down the slope for real skiers while we were in training, and suggested another beginner's slope that was less crowded.
It was NOT a beginner's slope after all, but none of us realized that until we'd accelerated way past our comfort levels and tumbled to the bottom. The catch holding the skis to my boots were HARD to get off and wore out my arms far more than my legs. SIL commended us for taking the chance, and I was glad too, as part of my new year's resolutions (more in a later post) is to push my comfort zones.
Through it all, I was not as cold as I remembered or expected to be - having the correct cold-weather gear made a huge difference. So does adrenaline :P
I think I could get used to skiing given more practice at a much less crowded resort, but no idea when that will happen. The bib came back along with everything else, so I'm prepared at least.
