Whoaaa.... an update!

So I'm sure you're wondering what prompted an update and I will tell you why.

Yesterday Ben and I cancelled our NAIAS plans and decided to go to Caberfae yesterday and it was awesome. My latter skiing experience was in the 8th grade with our middle school's ski club. I was a fairly good skiier at the time but definitley had lost all of my skills since then.

Yesterday started out pretty good. I went on the bunny hill that had a tow rope but I realized pretty quick that I hated the tow rope because it is hard to grab onto. So Ben quickly moved me over to a blue rated hill with a chairlift. I was a little nervous at first about the chairlift and the ever apparent worry of falling off (haha)! After going and up and down a few times and getting used to the "snowplow" stopping technique, I started to get more confident.

We moved a few hills over and then got on a lift to a slightly bigger hill (or so I thought). The chairlift ride seemed to take forever and then we finally arrived a the top.

Upon getting off the lift, I was surrounded by the sight and pure silence of being at well over 1500 feet in elevation. I see the sun fully setting in the east and we are on a large platform or plateau of snow. I look down and the bottom of the ski lift seems miles away.

Ben was up on a higher starting point and waiting for me to go, and then he would follow in case I fell or had trouble. I paused for what seemed an hour at the top of the hill and then decided to go.

I went down the hill slowly gliding to the left where I hit an icy patch but then turned the other way and was in powdery snow. I tried to slalom back and forth but my attempt turned into a straight shot blazing down the mountain as fast as possible! At this point I was actually saying outloud to my self, "Okay, you're doing good, just keep it straight and don't fall!!" Thank gosh no one else was around to hear me!

I finally made it down the mountain and cruised over to the other lift with my heart racing and adrenaline pumping. If I remember correctly I believe I yelled out a "hell yeah!" when i arrived at the base, and a few folks looking at me like "what the heck is his deal?". But nonetheless I made it down the hill with no crashes or injuries, and Ben wondering how unexperienced I really was!

We cruised around about 20 more times up and down some other hills and I got more comfortable with slaloming but I still need some work. It was a great evening and I had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again!


-jw