Powder Day

The folks at Headhunter's Fly Shop took a half day yesterday--shut down at 2 o'clock and headed to the slopes. Figuring it fit in well with my work-outs, I joined them. So I did a modest kettle bell work-out in the morning and jumped at the offer to ski with them in the evening...(and then I ate an entire frozen pizza.)

I'm forty-one and the last time I skied, which was in 2004, I tore my rotator cuff. Before that I had only skied twice in my life and it was all Mid-West skiing on hills that wouldn't even be considered bumps out here. I'll admit, I was scared shitless. So I told the guys I would go for comic relief and let me tell you, I didn't disappoint.

I rented skis and got my lift ticket, (Headhunter's picked up the tab for the ticket; an awesome jester or the least they could do for a couple solid hours of entertainment? Either way it was greatly appreciated.) Everyone locked into their skis near the deck at the lodge and drifted down the gradual run to the lift. John Arnold told me he'd help me out so he waited while I got my things together and gave Ben McNich my mom's phone number in case something happened. I couldn't put my skis on to get down to the lift. I was so scared I would run in to someone that I walked down.

Almost all the way to the lift, Arnold told me I couldn't ride up without my skis on so reluctantly, I locked in and managed my way into position to jump in the chair. It was about a five minute ride to the top and just before the drop area Arnold says, "Don't forget to stand up..."

We hit the landing area and I was so worried I wouldn't stand up soon enough I jumped up way too early, the chair hit me in the back of the legs and I sat back down and then plopped into the snow as the chair sailed over my head...biff number one.

Mark Raisler and Arnold waited for me a few yards away while I built up enough courage to put my skis back on and inch my way down to them. It literally took me about five minutes to go thirty yards. The girl in the lift house came out and asked me if I was ok. As I got to where John and Mark were waiting I tried to stop and yep, biff number two.

To go through every time I fell even just on that first run would take pages and pages so lets just say that it was a lot. There's a name for when someone takes a big spill--yard sale. It's because when you take a big digger your skis detach and they go flying one way and you and your poles go another and it looks like a yard sale spread out over the slope. For me it was more like a flea market on that first run. I fell so many times, everyone had time to ski down, get on the lift and make another turn before I made it down once.

The next time up, John and Mark gave me some pointers. It's not that I didn't know what I was suppose to do, it was having the resolve to actually do it. You have to be loose. You have to trust your gear and you have to sell out. I only fell a few times on my second turn and with a little more instruction, the third was much better.

Raisler had been an instructor for years and it's amazing how a good instructor can point out one or two things that can make your life so much easier. "Always keep your eyes looking where you're going and even though your hips are rotating, your torso should always line up down hill." John also had some very helpful advise having something to do with showers and short girls..? The bottom line was everyone was great and by my last run I didn't fall once and was making turns like a pro...ok, not so much like a pro but I was really getting it and it was a blast.

So one of the friends of the shop was with us and I took a few turns with him. Riding up on the lift he turns to me and says that his brother-in-law was a physical therapist who read a study that compiled data for people who start skiing after the age of 35 and how much more likely they hurt themselves severely...nice. I probably didn't need to hear that. But non-the-less, I will be back on the slopes soon I believe. I really had a blast and although I have a bruise the size of a grapefruit on my hip, it was all worth it.

Keep 'em where they live...