My boyfriend LOVES skiing and has been asking to take me for a while. Something always ended up getting in the way, like poor weather or other plans. He learned to ski when he was really young, but I never did. To be honest, I’m not very good at any winter-related sports (or any sports, for that matter.) To give some insight, I’m the girl who spends the first ten minutes at an ice skating rink feeling my way along the wall until someone forces me off, and the way I stop myself is skating right into the wall. In short, I had ~low expectations~ for my first time skiing.
Nevertheless, everything aligned for us to go over our spring break. We go to different schools but our breaks lined up, the weather was fine, we had no other plans, and it wasn’t too crowded. It also helped that my aunt works at the ski resort and was able to get us discounts, since I never realized how EXPENSIVE skiing is.
I had to rent everything since I obviously don’t own ski gear if I’ve never gone before, but my boyfriend brought all of his own stuff. We started out about halfway up the mountain on a part that wasn’t super steep, but still way more than I expected. I wiped out continuously and was getting really frustrated with it and with myself (shoutout to my boyfriend for being patient despite my mood going sour about it all). Eventually I got too angry with it all and was not ready to just make my way down the rest of the mountain.
We decided to move to a different ski lodge that put us at a lower portion of the mountain for me to attempt to learn some basic skills. The issue was that I wanted to know how to turn and stop and how to control myself, but the only way to learn those things is while you are in motion; it is too hard to learn when you are on flat ground or going reallllllly slow. I expected to be able to use “bunny hills” like the ones kids learn on, but those were roped off and only available to use if you were buying lessons. I had decided not to take lessons because it is expensive and also I trusted that my boyfriend was a good enough teacher.I had no other option but to get on a chair lift with him and go all the way up the mountain.
When we got up, we made our way to the green slope (aka the easiest one). I still was wiping out every few feet, and some of the falls were really hard ones. I started to get quite sore and grumpy, and after one particularly nasty fall that hurt my knee, I started to cry. There I was, a nearly twenty-one year old woman, sprawled across the snowy ground, wiping tears away left and right. My boyfriend offered for us to be done and go home, but I was so determined to figure it out. It took about an hour, but I eventually got to the bottom of the mountain.
We took a quick break to eat lunch before I was ready for round two. This time was significantly better, taking about twenty to twenty-five minutes for me to get down the slope. As we progressed through the day, I was getting the hang of it more and was enjoying it much more. I still fell, but it was less often and I was able to recover quicker. The ground because slushy as the day went on, so that did make it a little harder.
Ultimately, I would say the day wasn’t a total fail. I enjoyed trying out something new, especially a hobby my boyfriend really adores. I was able to improve as the day went on and didn’t give up even when I really wanted to. I’m writing this with an ice pack on my knee and some Advil in my system, because skiing makes you HURT when you are learning. It was really hard, but I look forward to trying again another day!