-
Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.
Question: How's your first day of the season?
- Thread starter snowski/swimmouse
- Start date
gardenmary
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
We've skied at Arizona Snowbowl. Hoping they'll have at least something groomed this coming Thursday, I don't have experience in ungroomed and my Kenjas still need the bindings set for my boots. No time to get it done before then (the shop would have to have it back to me by Tuesday 8 PM). By New Year's Snowbowl should be in good shape. Nice steeps and bowl-type runs. Have fun!!
VickiK
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
On my first day of the season, last Friday, I felt extremely rusty and tentative. Like: how did I ever think I knew how to ski? I also felt somewhat duped by the mountain's marketing emails, making me think there was more snow and more trails open. Saturday & Sunday, my skiing was better but the mountain was very crowded (score 1,000 for marketing again). But when all's said and done, it was a good weekend: skiing again, no injuries, beautiful weather, good company and fun. I know what I need to work on. 
Sure hope they get more snow.
Sure hope they get more snow.
contesstant
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Same here, Vicki! Did you get to hit Mammoth??
contesstant
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Jealous!!! Hope they get hammered with snow soon. I'm not looking forward to spending a week up there with the bulk of the hard-core terrain not open, so everyone's skiing like maniacs on the blue groomers!
contesstant
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
That's how it was last year! We went THIS week last year and they got dumped on and it was EMPTY (save for the Saturday.) One of my best weeks skiing EVER! Well, here's hoping for a better January, and for continued snowfall in Utah for the big gathering out there!!
segacs
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Finally got my first day out of the season today! Better late than never, eh? It was raining/freezing rain in the city, but we figured it would be okay up north so we went to Saint-Sauveur and it was great! Good coverage, quite a bit of powder actually (by our standards), good weather, not too cold.
I like my new boots, they're working for me a lot better than the old ones. I still have to crank them down a bit and then undo the instep buckle for the lift, but I do feel much more in control with them. I spent a good part of the morning trying to re-learn the balance in the new boots, which have less forward lean than my old one. I was fighting being in the backseat for a bit, but mid-afternoon it all started to click and I got that woohoo feeling back.
It sure is good to be back on skis again.
I like my new boots, they're working for me a lot better than the old ones. I still have to crank them down a bit and then undo the instep buckle for the lift, but I do feel much more in control with them. I spent a good part of the morning trying to re-learn the balance in the new boots, which have less forward lean than my old one. I was fighting being in the backseat for a bit, but mid-afternoon it all started to click and I got that woohoo feeling back.
It sure is good to be back on skis again.
That kinda sums up my first day too. It was a mixed bag. Met up with Christy and went to Stevens Pass. It was overcast w/ wet snow falling, so visibility was limited - mostly due to splattered goggles. It was tough being on a totally new mountain on the first day. I had to stop to clear goggles. I had to stop to see whether that hump was a rise on the normal trail, or the top of a boulder or drop-off. With limited snow coverage, the last thing I needed to do was wander my way into trouble.
I celebrated that my boots fit fine and I didn't need to get them punched again. And then put my skis on and felt the tips tap frequently. Why am I so wobbly? After more than enough of that, I stopped and was wiggling my foot ... hmmm, feet shouldn't move inside boots. That means it's time to step up to regular ski socks ... which means my heels will be scrunched and I will need a boot punch. (sigh)
All in all, it was a bit of a rollercoaster. But I didn't have any real expectations for it, other than to reacquaint myself with everything and get back into my ski routine. The easterner in me thought the snow was really good. And Christy informed me that that was probably the worst snow I'd see all season. Really? Wow.
. Too bad the tips of my big toes temporarily went numb.So I got in my first day today. It went like this:
(1) Arrive at the hill and realize that my poles are 300 miles south of me.
(2) Go to the tuning/repair/everything shop to have the DIN changed on my new-to-me skis, which the tech did for free. Yay!
(3) Chat with a tech in the rental shop to find out the situation with poles - got to borrow those for free.
(4) Ski 5 runs on manmade snow and think, "Huh, flex in my right boot is really flexy." And then realize partway through the 6th run that the boots are in "walk" mode.
(5) Then I hit a few baby kickers, came back to the main mountain, where the snow had softened a little (or maybe my boots were no longer ridiculously flexible), took a pretty inspired run, and called it a day.
(1) Arrive at the hill and realize that my poles are 300 miles south of me.
(2) Go to the tuning/repair/everything shop to have the DIN changed on my new-to-me skis, which the tech did for free. Yay!
(3) Chat with a tech in the rental shop to find out the situation with poles - got to borrow those for free.
(4) Ski 5 runs on manmade snow and think, "Huh, flex in my right boot is really flexy." And then realize partway through the 6th run that the boots are in "walk" mode.
(5) Then I hit a few baby kickers, came back to the main mountain, where the snow had softened a little (or maybe my boots were no longer ridiculously flexible), took a pretty inspired run, and called it a day.
litterbug
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
This is really, really boring, but not for me, because I finally got out! It was Christmas Eve, and just a couple of runs at the tail end of the day, but it was as beautiful as it always is, cold and dry, with soft, squeaky, grippy snow. I stayed on Sunnyside (all green runs) because I'd realized I was dealing with fear over the falls I had late last year and needed to just get comfortable. I'd made a deal with myself that I'd stay on easy runs doing easy things until I wanted more.
It took forever to get out of the house--couldn't find ski socks or hat or pass, couldn't decide whether to wear insulated or uninsulated pants, started rummaging around for a snack when I should be marching out the door. Finally I was there, booted up in the changing room, clicked into my skis--and realized I didn't have my poles. I considered skiing without them, but figured I didn't need another challenge just yet, so I borrowed a pole from some guy nearby and went to stand in a long line of people waiting to return equipment as time ticked by. Poles in hand I got back in my skis and down to the RFID reader, where a liftie and I discovered that instead of my season pass I was carrying my 2010-2011 gold card. By this time it was almost 4:00, and I had to laugh at how ridiculous it was. I just told him the story and that I just was not destined to ski that day, but the nice man let me on the lift for the little time it was still open.
I was on my first self-tuned pair of skis, and they skied very nicely with all the little exercises I asked them to do. It was a relief, because at various times I'd thought I messed them up. Granted, it was friendly snow, but they did nothing weird, not like after they got a freaky tune last winter. Last winter I didn't like either of my skis, but it turned out that a tune can totally change things, and felt like I finally had my skis back! Now I just need to finish putting wax on the Kenjas, which had a similarly terrible tune and just got a grind because I fried the bases (erk, don't ask!), and I'll like them again, too.
The second good thing was simply reassuring myself that I can be on skis. At first I felt defensive and awkward, rapidly going through every mistake and bad habit I've accumulated over the past few years--leaning in, leaning back, collapsing my upper body, letting go of whatever miserable core strength I have, keeping my legs straight, A-framing, arms all over the place, you name it. That was one run.
[Warning: boring ski drills ahead]
I decided to sideslip and work on my fore/aft balance and bending my knees while playing with my stance. I loosened my buckles and quickly caught and fixed a blatant error that I hadn't identified before. Now I could sideslip in both directions, and then lift my inside ski up and down throughout a turn, though it's still a bit much to turn while keeping the inside ski entirely off the ground. This was entertaining enough to take up my second run. On my third, after more fooling around on the flats, I just tried to make round turns, though lifting a ski even for a moment without falling tickled me so much that I couldn't stop doing it, and everything just felt more friendly.
Three little runs on a little hill for a little time at the end of a lovely little day. It's not much, but I'm disproportionally happy that the skills I was learning last spring have ripened a little and that my skis did what skis are supposed to do. I'm pudgy and out of shape, but I can be centered on my skis with one leg waving in the air.
It took forever to get out of the house--couldn't find ski socks or hat or pass, couldn't decide whether to wear insulated or uninsulated pants, started rummaging around for a snack when I should be marching out the door. Finally I was there, booted up in the changing room, clicked into my skis--and realized I didn't have my poles. I considered skiing without them, but figured I didn't need another challenge just yet, so I borrowed a pole from some guy nearby and went to stand in a long line of people waiting to return equipment as time ticked by. Poles in hand I got back in my skis and down to the RFID reader, where a liftie and I discovered that instead of my season pass I was carrying my 2010-2011 gold card. By this time it was almost 4:00, and I had to laugh at how ridiculous it was. I just told him the story and that I just was not destined to ski that day, but the nice man let me on the lift for the little time it was still open.
I was on my first self-tuned pair of skis, and they skied very nicely with all the little exercises I asked them to do. It was a relief, because at various times I'd thought I messed them up. Granted, it was friendly snow, but they did nothing weird, not like after they got a freaky tune last winter. Last winter I didn't like either of my skis, but it turned out that a tune can totally change things, and felt like I finally had my skis back! Now I just need to finish putting wax on the Kenjas, which had a similarly terrible tune and just got a grind because I fried the bases (erk, don't ask!), and I'll like them again, too.
The second good thing was simply reassuring myself that I can be on skis. At first I felt defensive and awkward, rapidly going through every mistake and bad habit I've accumulated over the past few years--leaning in, leaning back, collapsing my upper body, letting go of whatever miserable core strength I have, keeping my legs straight, A-framing, arms all over the place, you name it. That was one run.
[Warning: boring ski drills ahead]
I decided to sideslip and work on my fore/aft balance and bending my knees while playing with my stance. I loosened my buckles and quickly caught and fixed a blatant error that I hadn't identified before. Now I could sideslip in both directions, and then lift my inside ski up and down throughout a turn, though it's still a bit much to turn while keeping the inside ski entirely off the ground. This was entertaining enough to take up my second run. On my third, after more fooling around on the flats, I just tried to make round turns, though lifting a ski even for a moment without falling tickled me so much that I couldn't stop doing it, and everything just felt more friendly.
Three little runs on a little hill for a little time at the end of a lovely little day. It's not much, but I'm disproportionally happy that the skills I was learning last spring have ripened a little and that my skis did what skis are supposed to do. I'm pudgy and out of shape, but I can be centered on my skis with one leg waving in the air.
