I went skiing for the second time toady. I went back up to Wachusett. When I went skiing the first time, I went through the growing pains that everyone must go through just to learn. I started walking a little way up the bunny hill and progressed to the top of it. There was a lot of falling and getting back up. I knew going in there would be a lot of learning. I tried to keep patience and because I mentally prepared myself, I accepted there would be more failure than success. However, when you fall three runs in a row, it is impossible not to get frustrated. The only thing that really kept me from thinking the sport wasn't for me was watching others fall doing the exact same mistakes.
Near the end of the day, I could turn and I was going slightly faster. I didn't fall at all on my last six runs. When I left, I built up some confidence. For the next two weeks I have thought about skiing every day.
Today I got my chance to go again. The plan for today was to hopefully move from the smaller magic carpet hill to the bigger magic carpet hill. The good thing about that would mean a longer run. Even at my slower speed and working on turns it only takes a minute to come down the smaller hill. Without turning, its only a few seconds. Needless to say, I was eager to move up to the bigger hill.
On my first run on the small hill...I fell. It took me a couple of runs to get back to where I left off last time. Dave left me to practice for half an hour. In that time, I was getting better on each pass. The key to controlling your speed is turning. Before Dave left me I was still "surprised" when I made a turn. By the time he came back I finally felt if I wanted to turn right or left I could without being surprised by it. We did a couple runs where I followed his track then had lunch.
After lunch we went to the bigger slope. It is at least twice as long. The carpet is twice as long also so each time I had to go back up took three or more minutes. Walking over to the hill, I knew I could do it. I finally have enough confidence that I believe my skis will do what I tell them.
Sure enough the first time down just felt like a longer version of what I had been doing. I could turn and control my speed. Dave had me working on trying to do more parallel skiing and less wedge skiing. For the most part, I was getting more parallel, but not quite there. I got more pointers, but mostly I kept working on carving on the edge of my ski.
The best news of the day was I only fell on that first run in the beginning of the day. I got to the point where I could weave in and around sitting snowboarders ( This wasn't me getting cocky. To get down the hill it impossible not to come across sitting snowboarders). I was watching others make the same mistakes I had made. Of course there were five year olds that were way better than I am. Still, I am very happy with the progress I have made.
Before I even started skiing, Dave had said I could probably take a chair lift my third time skiing. I thought he was crazy. Sixty minutes into my first day, I didn't think I'd make it to the top of the bunny hill. It turns out he is right. There was a beginner slope right next to the hill I was practicing on. I'm sure I can ski it. Maybe I might fall, but it just looks like a longer version on what I was doing. I do know I'm ready for the challenge. So unbelievably, he was right. I will be buying a lift ticket next time I go.
The price of a magic carpet ticket that I have bought these first two times is eighteen dollars. I think that's a hell of a deal for all day skiing. I'm done with the carpet and have graduated to the lift. Unfortunately, that means my new cost to ski just skyrocketed to $63. On top of that I need to buy a helmet. I didn't need one on the carpet hills. There wasn't any trees to hit and falling wasn't very fast or hard. So, I'll be investing in a helmet also.
Last author's note:
I am very happy in my progression on the learning curve. One thing that I am even happier about is I'm learning the right way. Each thing feels like a graduation. At first I learned about the wedge. Then I walked part way up the hill over and over just to ski (fall) back down. After that I got to take the carpet up to the top. I worked on turns until I felt comfortable. Then I kept working on them until I felt confident in them .Next I got to move up to the bigger carpet. Lastly I'm working on skidding to start going parallel.
Of course I have a couple things going for me. One, my friend Dave is a ski instructor. I recommend that anyone that wants to learn to ski should take lessons. Of course they are expensive, so if you have a friend that is a very good skier AND can communicate their skills, learning from them is much better than figuring out on your own. I wouldn't have wanted to learn on my own. There are way to many bad habits that can hinder you from improving or learning skills. I'm sure I'm still doing bad things such as leaning. But having a friend point them out each time makes you conscious of them.
Secondly, without question practice makes you better. We spent hours skiing. I spent a lot of time alone today working on turning. Dave came by every few runs to work on something new or tell me what I was doing wrong. In my two times I've gone I've seen a lot of people taking group lessons. After the lesson, some of them stay on the hill to practice. However, after the lesson was over more than half would be gone never to be seen again. I have no idea where they went. I know that after one lesson no one is getting on the lift (except seven year olds, because apparently they naturally can ski without instruction, where as adults take forever to learn. Bitter? maybe a little)
Anyway, I don't know where a lot of these people go. If they leave after the lesson and a couple runs they will never improve. On the other hand if someone goes up the lift after one lesson, I can imagine that is an exercise in frustration and they will hate it. So as I said, I'm glad to be graduating one step at a time.
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