On Skiing in January

To start off a new year and a new decade, I learned how to ski. That's right. The daughter of a Wyoming native was never taught how to ski. Too late to learn at 21? I think not! To begin my epic quest towards black diamond domination, I, along with my mother, future step-father and brothers, sister, and sister's boyfriend headed to the mystical climes of Barboo, WI to take on the mighty Cascade Mountain.

Notice that I said Cascade singular not to be confused with the plural Cascades where I normally reside. And don't let the "Mountain" confuse you. For those that view the Midwest as flyover states, don't worry, you haven't read your maps wrong--this "mountain" is a baby foothill. Nothing more. Still, I cannot complain too much--I got to learn how to ski on the "hill" and it was sweet.

Rule number one about skiing in January in Wisconsin: IT IS COLD! It was 5 degrees. That's right 5! What were we thinking? Toe warmers are the most amazing thing ever invented. I also had to thank Santa profusely for the very warm long underwear that kept me from shivering right out of my bindings. Still. Skiing in January in Wisconsin? Not cool, COLD!!!! Thank goodness I had my excitement and shear blind panic to keep me warm.

I started out my epic adventure with a group lesson, starting small and taking on the bunny hill. I did not fall once on that bunny hill or getting out of the lift. Booyah! After that lesson, my mom took me up to do my first green run...here comes the first fall. I got off the lift just fine but I forgot that whole stopping thing. I proceed to shoot down the exit hill and into the out of bounds area. Whoever had the genius idea of putting a nice dip there to catch us crazy beginners, thank you. That dip proceeded to send me flying out of my skis to land happily on one of the few sections of snow that wasn't almost purely ice. (I meant to mention that Midwestern snow is not powder--it's packed hard and icy which meant immediate lessons in how useful steel edges can be.) From there I proceeded to get back onto the correct ski runs and take my first green run.

Have I mentioned I have a fear of falling? And that fear includes hurling myself down hills at high speeds? Needless to say, as with all things that involve facing my two main fears (falling and drowning) I had an absolute blast. From there I took the green runs three more times and called it a day. The next day after an hour long private lesson, I got to practice my turns (no more snow plowing for me, thank you!) on my very first blue run. It was AWESOME! The first one I took, I wanted to pass out every time I had to turn my skis downhill into my next turn. When I took it the second time I had a lot more fun. Well, then my lovely family decided to take me on another blue run which to me looked like a vertical drop. Erm... no please? I did manage to stay upright and I never really lost control but it was so icy my edges failed to catch a couple of times. I panicked after my down hill ski slipped a couple of times and had to all out stop but I made it down in one piece (and more to the point, I did not cause anyone else to get maimed either). The grand total for my first two days of skiing: 4 bunny hill runs, 7 green runs, 3 blue runs, and 1 half run dodging people in the play park trying to get to the warming lodge where lunch was being served after my future step siblings sent us up the wrong lift. Total fall count: 3 (maybe 4, it's all a bit hazy). Total Ibuprofen count: 20 over three days. Overall conclusion about skiing: AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Alright, so most of you are thinking "What does this have to do with leaving for Vienna?" The honest answer: absolutely nothing. I just thought I would share how I was not preparing for my trip over the past three days. Count down until departure: 9 days. Oh man.

Happy sloping!