Entries RSSI felt like a complete moron wearing hard plastic boots and carrying two skis like someone who has never eaten with chopsticks. I peered around and hoped that no one was looking at my personal fiasco in getting across the parking lot. Granted, I grew up skiing and most my life felt confident in and around skis, but today I felt like a newbie all over again.
Six seasons ago I made the switch from two boards to one, and haven’t looked back, until now. I’ve signed up for the four week long Women’s Days program at my local ski resort, Eldora, in the telemark clinic. It is, as the title gives away, a program specifically for women to get instruction in a new sport or hone the ones they already have. It seems like a perfect environment to learn a new sport.
I dumped my equipment at the door to the lodge and headed up to the lounge area where we were told to meet. Apparently, in my late and hasty scramble to get out of the house this morning I not only lost my glove but it cost me a yummy buffet breakfast. Note to self, get up earlier next week. I was quickly greeted by the organizer who asked me some questions about my ability and assessed I would need to be the in red group. I panicked, what does that mean? They had just flagged me as the ultimate beginner. Red, meaning watch out for this one, she’ll be cutting pies across the slopes? Or maybe, red, she is such a beginner that she is a danger to herself? I needed to lower my anxiety level and just go with it. I was introduced to my fellow students and our instructor, Diane and immediately felt a little more at ease. Well except for the fact that I was missing one glove. Diane came to my rescue by grabbing me her extra pair. All this and I hadn’t even been on the snow yet.
On our first chair ride up, I focused on not dropping my poles while also trying to absorb the tips Diane was passing on. Her descriptions of how to use edges and the differences between alpine skiing and telemark made all the sense in the world. She explained techniques for the beginner with such concise detail and patience, I figured I would have no problem putting those theories to practice when we unloaded. Of course my years of skiing would help, right? Hmm. Not so much. Good thing they flagged me as RED.
Getting used to the fact that my heel was not secured in place was one of the more difficult hurdles, not counting trying to ski in a lunging stance. The fresh powder made my falls a little less painful and turns (albeit alpine) a little easier. I was cutting wedgies out of the side of the hill, as well as perfecting the art of skiing backwards down the slope. Every time I fell, those damn poles got in the way, so I was thrilled when Diane told us to leave them at the bottom for the remainder of the lesson. One less thing to think about. In the middle of feeling like I was being taught to walk for the first time, I felt my ski roots coming back to me. Remembering all the tricks my father, who was a ski instructor, had embedded into my head. I feel a reconnecting with a part of my past that I thought I left behind when I made the switch to snowboarding. My dad will be happy to hear that! I was having fun on two sticks again.
Lunch couldn’t have come at a better time. I piled my plate high with most of the items in this gourmet spread and sat down to get an overview from Diane on the first half of our day. We were all given tips on what we needed to work on individually and watched the video of ourselves she had taken on some of the runs. I blushed as my portion came up. Code Red. I was well behind the level of my fellow students, but they all had encouraging words and I felt like I had a team behind me routing for me to get better. The camaraderie between us was building and I could see why women specific programs have become so popular. My inhibitions were starting to fade. I couldn’t wait to get back out for the second half of the day to practice.
I lasted for a few more runs, bloated with overeating and quads that felt as if they were going to explode. Diane told me to have patience in my turns, so that became my mantra for the rest of my day. Seeing as I am not a very patient person, this is probably good advice for me to heed. By the time I bid my crew goodbye with homework in hand I felt as if I made some new friends and rekindled a love of skis. It felt good to feel vulnerable, and like a beginner. To feel like a little kid again to some degree and to challenge myself was invigorating. I can’t wait for next Tuesday.
