Part Deux of my adult beginner ski lessons and things are starting to come together nicely!
Once again, I started by trekking through the parking lot in my ski boots and gear to the ski school to find my class sign, lucky number 22. I felt a bit more at ease walking in them this time than I did last week, but still had the gait of a baby giraffe. I’ll get it together one of these days.
This weekend, my fellow newbie ski partner in crime wasn’t able to join, so it was just Charlie and I for today’s class. Per usual, he arrived right on time and started by laying out the game plan for today’s lesson. Right off the bat, he mentioned that we should be able to try the magic carpet after practicing and reviewing what I had learned last week.
The magic carpet is a standing conveyor belt similar to the moving walkway at the airport, except for the fact that it’s inclined. This one runs parallel to the bunny hill, splitting it into two sections – one to the right and one to the left. Gazing over towards the brave little toddlers and their mini skis neatly lined up and ready to ski (or tumble) their way down, I figured if they had nothing to fear, then neither did I.
Still not quite confident enough to ski over to the bunny hill, I walked alongside Charlie, skis and poles in hand, as he glided effortlessly towards our slope. Not wasting any time, we did the now-familiar side-climb halfway up the hill and practiced edging the skis. A skill that I had difficulty executing the previous week. After watching Charlie go horizontally across the slope, I followed his example and, miraculously, edged into a semi arch. Feeling pretty good, and with encouragement from Charlie, we practiced edging across both sides of the slope to ensure that I was comfortable doing it both ways.
Managing to stay upright the first 15 minutes of reviewing this maneuver, Charlie decided that it was time for me to brave the magic carpet. I nervously agreed and followed behind as we made our way to the line. Briefly stopping to warn the attendant that it was my first time riding up, Charlie asked me to watch him board first. Once he got past the post marking the distance for proper spacing on the magic carpet, the attendant motioned me forward. He instructed me to make sure my skis were parallel as I shuffled forward to make the transition from snow ramp to magic carpet. Slightly shifting my weight forward, I managed to slide onto it without any issues and stood tall, proud of the fact that I had overcome something that had seemed so daunting only moments before.
Reaching the top of the magic carpet, I saw Charlie waiting for me towards the right. We continued to practice edging beginning at the top of the slope and making our way down horizontally, both ways, then queuing up again at the magic carpet. After a few times of doing this, Charlie suggested we try more technical things to work on. One of these exercises involved shuffling across the slope horizontally, both skis parallel and sliding forward. Shuffling to the right to meet Charlie on the other side of the slope, I miscalculated and instead started picking up speed going downhill. Trying not to panic, I remembered that I could simply turn to slow down and gain control. So, that’s what I did. Somehow, I was actually skiing downhill and making the characteristic slalom motion. With the slope beginning to flatten and meshing into the end of the line for the magic carpet, I slid to a halt, narrowly avoiding a small child.
Pretty accurate depiction of how I felt going down the bunny hill during my first run.
I stood there motionless and in disbelief that I had just skied my first run downhill. I looked around to find Charlie’s eyes beaming as he sidled up beside me. He confirmed that I had indeed skied down the slope and, even more, had used the skills we had practiced to turn while stopping with full control. He even said I had good form!
With this huge milestone behind me, I reflected on the fact that even though it had been scary, I had enjoyed the feeling of going fast downhill and skidding my skis down the slope. Now that I had a taste of true skiing and was able to string together all the skills I had learned, I was beyond stoked.
Grinning from ear to ear, we rode up the magic carpet again, and simply refined what I had accidentally learned on my own during the previous run.
With the lesson coming to an end, Charlie suggested we ski across the bottom part of the blue run next to the bunny slope all the way to the ski school. I put my game face on and rode the magic carpet up for the last time, feeling pretty pleased with myself.
This was short-lived as I then fell down shortly after exiting the magic carpet. When going to the left of the carpet, there’s a tiny incline to climb before coming to the top of the bunny hill. As I was trying to climb that incline, my skis started sliding backward and before I knew it, my butt was planted on the snow. Luckily, at least one of my skis had already disengaged so I just needed to take off the other one. Still, Charlie had to extend his ski pole to help me stand.
I noted how ironic it was that I had managed to avoid falling the whole day except for the very end and at a very slow speed at that. With my skis once again on my boots and standing upright, Charlie started off across towards the ski school. With my confidence slightly shaken, I looked up the blue hill to make sure that no one would come speeding down as I inched my way across the slopes. I gave myself a good push, slid forward, and effortlessly skied down both hills, meeting Charlie at lucky number 22. With some encouraging words from the other instructors, we said goodbye and parted ways.
Taking off my skis and starting back towards the parking lot. I couldn’t help but put a little bounce into my step. Just the week before, I could barely manage to stand straight in my skis, and today, I had actually skied. When trying anything new, it’s hard to feel like you’re not making progress. It’s putting your new skills to the test successfully that motivates you to keep going. I’m glad that I was able to quash the inner voice telling me it was too soon to try the magic carpet and that I just went for it. Who knows, maybe I’ll even make it onto the lift next week!
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