Skiing

[chuckro]

For those of you not aware, I went skiing with Rebecca and some other members of the PUB this past week. Skiing and I have an interesting relationship--on one hand, I seem to enjoy it. On the other, it scares the living crap out of me. And a lot of the folks on the trip (Rebecca included) insist that I'm good at it. I have a hard time believing that, too, not because I fall down a lot or can't get down trails, but because I spent most of my time skiing desperately trying to keep control and remember everything my legs should be doing. Basically, everyone else makes it look so easy, and I feel like if I was good at it, it would be easy for me. Or maybe I'm just nuts.

Ah well. The trip was fun in any case--Rebecca ran Mage, Brian ran a puzzle-heavy D&D session, I did a ton of cooking (which I like) and virtually no dishwashing (which I dislike), and the weekends in Princeton on either end of the trip were relaxing. Overall, an excellent use of my 2004 vacation time.

Comments

[tigermelp.livejournal.com]

Maybe I should take you skiing when I go again. That's exactly how I feel about it, too. :)

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

So next time we can be all panicked together. That's what friends are for, after all.

[shnayder.livejournal.com]

That's how I felt about skiing for quite a while, and still do on harder trails. It's really very much mental-once you get good enough to stay in control, conciously try to relax when skiing easy stuff. At some point, it just clicks and you start to do the right thing without having to think about it so much. And then you go to steeper runs and it all repeats :)

[edgehopper.livejournal.com]

It's not really a matter of "If I were good, it would be easy." It's more of a circular thing. Once you get the basics down, fear will definitely keep you from skiing well. And the steeper the slope, the bigger the problem--on a really steep slope, you have to be constantly throwing yourself down the mountain. Matt put it nicely--"On hard mogul slopes, the terrain is difficult, so you feel you should go slow and hesitantly; but the right way to ski that kind of slope is to stay forward and aggressive."

But yes, the trip was good.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Or, in other words, to ski properly, you must be insane.

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

This is a lesson I understood early: You will not have fun unless your butt is warm and toasty.