Rather ashamedly, despite living in four of the skiing meccas across the West, I’ve never really skied. Okay, once, as a school field trip in Utah, but that’s it. And I was really little.
So when the team at White Pine Ski Resort invited me to join a ski lesson group Friday – on the condition I photographed it for the paper – I jumped all over it. Something new and potentially fast.
The group I joined had already been in session for a few weeks, but I strapped on skis and immediately headed onto the lift. At first the skis made me feel a bit like a wobbly colt and I was uncertain about my ability to disembark the lift without tipping. Eh, the worst I could do was fall, so I jumped in. Ninety minutes, one fall, and over ten runs later I was zipping downhill, a big, stupid grin on my face.
Turns out the basic position for skiing is spot-on with a good dressage position. Knees bent, center of gravity low, arms relaxed along your sides. Once I made the connection everything clicked. The only issue was my instincts telling me to lower my center of gravity and tip my pelvis to slow. Doesn’t work so well on skis.
My instructor informed me I’d somehow skipped the “pizza” stage and jumped right into parallel turns. Hell if I know what it means, but apparently it’s a good thing. That, and apparently I have an unusual, highly aggressive approach to skiing.
It was fun. And opens up an entirely new world for the camera. Hot damn.
I was back up at the resort yesterday photographing kids’ ski lessons – the tiny jackets and tiny skis are so incredibly cute. Members from the local high school ski team volunteer their time and join staff instructors as they wrangle kids around the slopes. It was a very happy group of little kids, skiing alongside their mentors.
Today I was back up once more, this time snowshoeing in the same area. So nice to be out of the deep freeze and be able to play without worrying about frostbite!
Tags: Recreation
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