I skied, I'm a Skier

Yes...those are my feet. For 32 years I have always thought that skiing was too hard and too expensive and too dangerous and too cold to even try. A few weeks ago I found out that you could ski for FREE at Alta Ski Resort after 3pm. I also found out that you could rent all the equipment you needed to ski for around $12.

Steve in his former life was a bit of an expert when it came to skiing. Then he moved to California and married me, the non-skier, and never went again. However a group of his co-workers decided to get together for a ski day so he signed up to go too. He had a blast. Even though he hadn’t been in 9 years, he was able to run the hills 20 times during the day.

He came home from that outing determined to take ME skiing. He told me I should at least give it a try. I decided to go for it, against my better instincts to never slide down an icy mountain on long skinny waxed foot sleds.

I agreed to go because I knew I could do it for only $12 and I wouldn’t feel any pressure to have a $100 all-day experience. It’s like golf. I like to golf, but I only like to play 4 to 6 holes because I get bored. I thought staying all day on a cold mountain sounded…not fun. This, I could do.

So we rented the junk and headed up the mountain the next day. Special thanks to my mother in law for watching our kids. We got there and unloaded our stuff. We got rock star parking and unloaded and put on said ski junk.

Then we headed onto the hill. It was very slippery. I was sliding everywhere and I just could not stop. It was only slightly down hill, but it didn’t seem to matter. I just slid and slid and slid until I fell, fell and fell. It didn’t hurt and I was expecting that. I was expecting to be able to control myself a little more than this. (Steve’s comment: This is the area by the transfer rope tow at the Alta Albion base. Basically a flat surface.)

Steve intended to take me up the rope tow a few times before we went up the real lift, but I couldn’t exactly get to the rope tow.

He decided to send me back to the start of the non-hill on the transfer rope tow so I could try and get the hang of it a little more before I went up even the beginner bunny rope tow hill.
Here I am being moved by this rope and clinging to it for life. I might look like I am having fun, but I promise it is just because I felt so stupid and inadequate.

I again tried, but failed to reach the rope tow. I just couldn’t understand how to make those skis turn and stop. All the other children who were there learning to ski for the first time didn't seem to have the same problems I was having. They were all at the rope tow riding up and sking down...but I for some reason was unable to accomplish this.

After 20 minutes or so of spousal ski instruction I was final able to make my skis turn in one direction. The real lift opened and Steve assured me that with my newly acquired skill I was qualified to ride the lift and go down the bunny hill. I wasn’t sure how this was possible since I didn’t have a clue as how to operate the junk I was wearing, but…I was obedient and rode up the lift.

The lift was very impressive. It was incredibly beautiful on the mountain.

We’d been here several times earlier in the year during the summer to hike. We’d seen all those Moose right here in this very area, but it was very different covered in 10 feet or so of snow. So quiet.
So serene. Very impressive. I was in awe.


Before I knew it we were at the top of the lift and I was very nervous about it. I felt like a little child nervous at the bottom of an escalator. What to do, what to do. As my feet hit the ground I stood up as directed and then Steve grabbed my arm and we skied away from the lift and down a gentle incline toward the signs marked “Easiest Way Down” I, as a result of lack of ski skill and experience, immediately skied right off the groomed trail and out of bounds.
The snow doesn’t taste too bad just in case you were wondering. Better than down in the valley I’d say.

Here is the evidence of my first of a series of crashes.
I got up each time and that is the important part. We skied down and I turned my one good direction and then crashed when it was time to turn the other. OH BROTHER! It is very difficult to stand up on a mountain with your feet bound to these skis.


Then…it happened. I started to feel how it worked. I thought I was supposed to lead on my inside leg to turn, I mis-understood what Steve was telling me. As soon as I started leaning on the proper leg I could turn in either direction. EITHER DIRECTION! No more crashes. Okay a few more, but not constant.

It was about ¾ of the way down the first run where I finally caught on.
Beauty.
Here I am skiing now!


(Interesting comparison...here's Steve and Sunny in the same spot during a hiking trip last summer...see the mountain behind them and me in the ski photo above?.. What a difference a season makes.)

Then the only thing I had problems with was going too fast and feeling out of control. I don’t like feeling out of control. I realized I just needed more experience, so we went up the lift again.

Aren’t we cute together? Yes.

The second time was totally different than the first. I only crashed one time the whole way down.
The first run took us one hour. Then second time it only took 22 minutes. It was way funner this time too. Imagine that.

Instead of having all the little children pass me by, I was skiing with them. I could now ski about as well as a five-year-old. Congratulations! I was really surprised how many children were up there skiing on teeny-tiny skis. So cute, and daring. I do intend to make my children one of them, as soon as I am more experienced myself. My children aren’t going to spend their lives living at the bottom of world-class ski resorts without at least trying to ski.

The lifts were open for another 8 minutes so we decided to make a third and final run down the hill. Back up the lift.

This time we skied down the “Easy Way”, but not the “Easiest Way.” I graduated. It was a little more challenging, but I was up for it. We came to a long steep part and I was really nervous about going down so I had Steve stop and take some pictures of us so I could stall for a few minutes. Since I had no other options, I worked up some more nerve to continue the rest of the way down. I did well too. I almost crashed once, but saved it. I went too fast once and didn’t freak out and throw myself into a crash; I just stayed the course and eventually came to a stop. Steve was impressed with my rapid improvement. I was pretty impressed too truth be told.


I really, really enjoyed this experience. It wasn’t nearly as hard, painful, dangerous or cold as I was expecting. I would and will totally do this again, over and over in fact. I can see how people would get obsessed with this sport.

We packed our ski junk back into the van and headed back down the canyon to the shop where we rented this stuff. As we turned it in the attendant asked how we liked it. I told him it was great and that I loved it. To which he said… “You guys should get out more and do more stuff.” I was like…really? Your mom should get out more… You don’t know me, you don’t know my life, you don’t know what I do…I do plenty of stuff thank you very much. I didn’t actually say that, I just thought it. But we do plenty of stuff. This is just one more stuff to add to the list.

In all, it was a fantastic experience. I feel like a total idiot for living my whole life here and totally snubbing the mountains in the winter time. It was great. Not that hard or expensive and everyone should try this even if you never have before. If I can do this anyone can. You really shouldn’t say that you don’t like something unless you have at least tried it a time or two.

If you are interested in having a similar experience, you can rent your ski junk here for around $12. Go ski for free here after 3pm. If you go, let me know, so I can come too.

Big, big thanks to Steve for telling me that I could do this. I wish everyone could be married to Steve, because he's awesome and makes awesome things happen for me. But you can't, he's mine, ALL MINE!

(Steve’s Note: She really did pick it up really quickly. It was like one second she could not ski at all, and the next second she was skiing quite well. I think you just have to get the feel of it and then you are good to go. Thanks for doing this with me babe. It sounds like you are in for next time.)