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Saturday, December 29, 2007
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Friends Don't Let Friends Teach Friends
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I know the title sounds a little weird-ass. This is what I saw on fliers at the Shawnee Mountain Ski Resort tickets sale counters. At first glance, I had no clue what the hell that meant. Then I slowly realized it made complete sense. Being a novice to skiing I took one, approximately 30 minute, lesson in which I learned the basics. That was good for the bunny and to come down the greens without falling. But there I hit the barrier. Though I could manage myself from the top to the bottom of the slope without breaking someone's nose, throwing others off the cliff or hit anyone like a canon ball, I was not having much fun as I lacked the right technique to ski. Some friend's of mine did try to teach me but for no avail. This experience did suggest that one needs some professional guidance and hence a proper trainer and not really friends trying to teach friends. After all, the signs did make a valid statement. But it turned out not to be 100% accurate by the end of our stay at Shawnee.
Among the three of us - a colleague, a friend and myself - my colleague was an experienced and seasonal skier and obviously didn't need someone to tell him what to do. So my friend and I decided to get a private lesson. The instructor was to spend one hour with us. Now, my friend and I being at different levels, the instructor had to design a custom package so that both of us could benefit from that one hour. Well, it was not a complete waste and both of us did make some progress but unfortunately for me, the progress was not enough to break the bunny-to-blue barrier. Lucky for me though, there were my two buddies constantly trying to give feedback and suggestions. I totally knew what mistakes I was making but the solution was not that clear. My friend's suggestions made complete sense but putting them into action was not easy. The simple reason being, I admit, I'm scared of death. For the rest of the first day I did my clumsy sliding, slipping and falling maneuvers.
The second day was warm and the slopes became icy and very unpleasant to ski. Also, a million other enthusiasts joined us to make the mountain look more like Times Square. I was totally pissed off with the existing conditions but could not give up. Once again my friends assisted me with all the patience in the world. Finally I broke the barrier and was all of a sudden very comfortable. Forget the greens, I was fine on the blue as well. What the instructor could not do, my buddies did. Nothing against the instructor though. He had only one hour in which he had to train two dudes of different levels of expertise. At the end, while leaving Shawnee, I once again glanced at the signs and said to myself "friends don't let friends teach friends unless there exists a great instructor in those friends".Labels: blue slopes, green slopes, icy slopes, parallel, pennsylvania, poconos, shawnee mountain, ski instructor, ski lessons, ski slopes, skiing, wedging |
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posted by bachi
18:36
 
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Gostei muito desse post e seu blog é muito interessante, vou passar por aqui sempre =) Depois dá uma passada lá no meu site, que é sobre o CresceNet, espero que goste. O endereço dele é http://www.provedorcrescenet.com . Um abraço.
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Are you saying, there was a great instructor in your friends?
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Saturday, December 15, 2007
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Skiing Breaks Your Bones - Part II
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A couple of my friend's and I decided to head to Lake Placid to spend this year's Thanksgiving weekend there. We decided to ski entire day Fri and most of Sat and head back Sat night. Since this conversation is not related to the trip, but skiing, I will jump to Sat when we actually hit the slopes. The ski resorts were supposed to open on Fri itself but did not due to some "technical" problems. So, to our dismay, we had only one day to freeze our balls and break our asses. But luckily it snowed entire Fri and we looked forward to the natural snow slopes rather than the crappy icy artificial ones.
It has been almost a year since I skied and that was the only time I ever skied. So I was not sure if I even remembered how to ski. The bulky boots on, the skis strapped and the poles in hand, I headed to the bunny slope. Even before I could think, I was standing in the line for the lift. The chilly breeze from the snow covered mountain was invigorating and completely erased any doubts I had in my mind. By lunch time, I was the king of the bunny hill. I had absolute control and never fell. That being the first day of the ski season, not all slopes were ready. Other than the bunny, there was one blue (intermediate) slope and a couple of black and double black diamonds (expert and extremely difficult). By now I was getting bored of the bunny and wanted to give the blue a shot. I knew it was not going to be easy but I had to try it. I had to learn more stuff and improve myself. I knew I cannot do that on the teeny meeny one. So, without warning my buddies, I headed straight to the other lift.
"How bad is this one? I'm still a beginner but thought I'll give it a shot." I said to the guy operating the lift. "Not that bad. Just goes past the mid-point. Once out of the lift, stay to your right." He said. The breeze was getting more and more chilly as the lift climbed the mountain. I could see the cloud-splitter going past me (cloud-splitter is another lift that takes people to the top of the mountain where the black and double black diamond slopes start. Amazingly enough, this lift actually splits the clouds because the peak of the mountain is hidden beyond the clouds. All the way into the heaven above.) I saw an alighting point ahead of me and thought I could finally get out onto the slope. But it did not happen. It did not belong to my lift and I still kept crawling up. Two more such points passed and nothing happened. "God dammit!" I thought. This freaking lift did not seem to stop. looking at the steep slopes below, I knew I was heading for deep trouble. I could see streams flowing in gorges next to the slopes. I have always feared water (not to mention I did some kick-ass white water rafting before). Finally, after what seemed like a never ending journey, it was time for me to get out of the lift. For a moment, I thought of taking the same lift back to the base but the thought of giving up was not a pleasant one.
I dared and got down of the lift and stayed to my right as the guy at the bottom suggested. "This is not that bad." I thought as I curved along the slope and started to head down. Then my heart skipped like a hundred beats. I could not see a thing on the slope, beyond a hundred feet from where I was standing. The slope was that steep and all I could see in front of me was the foot of the mountain at what seemed to be like a mile away. This was a point of no return though. I had no choice but to go down the slope in whatever way possible. That was the only way I could reach the bottom, and go home only if I still had all parts of my body intact, of course provided I was still alive when I reached the base. This gave me an adrenalin rush. I saw a great adventure lying ahead of me. I started to go at an angle to the slope and then slowly turned to make a big S. I made one turn and went at an angle to the other edge. I tried to make another turn to complete my first S when I started to pick-up speed and dashed ahead. I was going down the hill at an insane speed and the only way I could stop before running into the trees or someone else, was by falling. I did that with every bit of sophistication. Freezing snow was all over my face. I tried to getup and put my skis back on but it was extremely difficult since I was in the middle of the steep slope. As soon as I got up, I started to slide down. Knowing this was not easy, I put my slides side by side and sat on them. With the poles in my hands, I happily slid till it got a little flat. That was cool. In the worst case, I knew how to at least reach the bottom without much risk.
I once again put my skis on and started to ski. There was another steepie waiting for me. I once again tried to do the S and fell with a thump. This time, a woman stopped next to me and gave me a hand. She patiently supported me till I could get myself up and strap the skis on. She told me that she was a professional trainer and that she would teach me for free. She was very nice and patient. After going down a couple more steep sections like that, we reached one particular section that was narrower than anything else before. On the far edge, it literally dropped steep into a gorge with ice cold water flowing in it. I sincerely thanked her and told here I didn't want to waste her time since it would take me forever before I made up my mind to ski that part. She tried to convince me but figured I wouldn't budge. I felt embarrassed that she was honestly trying to help me while I turned down her assistance.
After skiing and falling, walking, sliding on the butt, rolling and almost an hour after getting down the lift, I was once again back to where I belonged. I clearly saw the reason why people end up with rods, nuts and bolts in their bodies after skiing. Don't get me wrong. It is not because they go down steep slopes. But it is because they try to do something stupid like me. If I went down a couple of beginner slopes first and sincerely took some lessons for intermediate skiers and practiced, it would have been a totally different story. I do not regret for what I did as I was curious to learn and improve my skills and did not loose myself to fear. But I couldn't blame anyone but myself if anything happened in that one hour.Labels: artificial snow, beginner slopes, blue, butt sliding, cloud splitter, face lift, intermediate, lake placid, natural snow, skiing, steep slopes, upstate new york |
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posted by bachi
23:21
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Gostei muito desse post e seu blog é muito interessante, vou passar por aqui sempre =) Depois dá uma passada lá no meu site, que é sobre o CresceNet, espero que goste. O endereço dele é http://www.provedorcrescenet.com . Um abraço.