Like2Ski
Angel Diva
So after two years of extreme curiosity, I finally decided to try snowboarding. I signed up for group lessons on 3/13 and 3/14 and rented a board for the weekend with the agreement that, if I liked it, I could turn it into a seasonal rental.
Day 1
I skied the morning of 3/13 and then ate lunch and changed for snowboarding. I got ALL the protective gear. I already had some gear from rollerblading, like knee pads and elbow pads. My gloves wouldn’t fit over the wrist pads, so I bought gloves with wrist guards. I also had crash pants. I was ready.
I headed over to the learning center and was sent to my group. One other woman and two couples. Everyone was very nice and supportive of each other. We started out at the bottom of the magic carpet learning to strap in and gliding a bit. I did ok at this. Next we headed for the magic carpet. The instructor told us what to do but not to worry because if anyone slipped he would hit the emergency button and stop the whole thing. I managed to make it onto the carpet successfully.
Once at the top we started to practice J heel turns, still with just our lead foot strapped in. Here’s where the problems started. I had a tough time with this, was sometimes successful, sometimes not. Lots of falls. We practiced this for the duration of the lesson. I could not get up without assistance so had to roll over, which the instructor said not to do, but there was no other way.
I fell hard several times. If I didn’t have that gear, I am pretty sure I would have broken something. A beginner skier hit me once, but she was going very slowly, so no harm done.
At the end we parted ways but I had no idea how to get out of the bindings! Now I know it’s pretty easy, but I literally sat there for five minutes trying to figure it out by myself. I finally freed myself and it was just after three o’clock. I was so frustrated and needed to feel good about myself so I put my skis back on and took two runs!
Day 2
After a rocky start, I thought, maybe I am meant to be a skier and this just isn’t for me. Maybe I won’t even go to the lesson today. But I knew I couldn’t judge it after one day, so off I went. None of the same people were there; they mentioned Saturday that they’d be practicing on their own. I thought I was going to be with these people who were all from the same family/friends group and not too friendly. I tried to make small talk but they really weren’t interested. Then the instructor came over and we started walking away, just the two of us. I asked if it was just us and she said yes. That other group must have been at capacity. Yay! Private lesson for the group price!
I explained what we worked on the previous day and that I was a skier. She thought it would be harder for me to learn since I already had skiing ingrained in me. We worked on body position, heel turns, and toe turns and she was hoping I could link some turns. Of course, I got a lot more attention in this lesson since it was private. We made many trips up the magic carpet and she worked me hard! Traversing was tiring and I constantly felt like I was going to fall over. In fact, I fell right twice before getting onto the magic carpet, taking out some of the lift line markers.
My biggest issue is that I was putting too much weight on my back leg, causing me to spin around. I did make a few turns and save a few near falls, but the body position felt weird (almost like a cowgirl the instructor said) and I just couldn’t get the weight on the front foot.
Eventually I linked a few turns and told the instructor I was actually smiling through that. She said they make minimum wage and her friends don’t know why she bothers teaching but she said it’s because of moments like that (minimum wage is so crazy to me for what they do - please tip your instructors!). I ended the day on a high note and instead of putting my skis back on, I stayed in the learning area to practice.
This was the end of my lesson taking although this instructor gave me her card and we did click. I considered it but with scheduling and the season coming to a close it just didn’t happen.
Day 3
After skiing in the morning on 3/26 I decided to practice on my own in the learning center. I skied on 3/20 and it was so much fun that I never switched to snowboarding. So on the 26th I was able to make it down to the bottom of the magic carpet area without falling. It seemed like I was making some progress, so I decided to attempt the quad in the beginner area. The snowboard felt so strange as I was riding up, just very heavy. I was scared to get off and was really not in the right position so I kind of slid off. I don’t even think the liftie noticed. It was the end of the day and he seemed to be looking down and not paying attention. After collecting myself and strapping in, I got ready to make some turns. That green trail looked STEEP to me. I have a new respect for beginners. I started to go down and fell, almost flat on my face, like, I felt it in my ribcage and my nose felt about an inch from the snow. Not good. I got down but had to remove the board and recenter myself on the slope. I tend to keep making toe turns until I’m at the edge of the trail. After that, I decided to stay on the magic carpet. I had some more minor falls but mostly could make it to the bottom of the carpet area while remaining upright.
Day 4
Rain was in the forecast for 3/27 but I decided to go out and keep practicing. There was almost no one on the mountain and the summit lift was on wind hold (not at that my snowboard and me would be anywhere near the summit lift anyway!). I don’t know what happened but I started falling forward again like I had done the day before. It was kind of the last straw. It’s scary to fall like that and it gives me an instant headache. I practiced a few more times and decided to give up - for good. I think I was meant to be a skier. I put my skis on and took a few runs before calling it a day due to rain.
Snowboarding always looked so fun to me but it was really hard. I love watching great boarding from the lift, but I think that’s as close to snowboarding I will get. When I was planning to take lessons and looking up information online so many posted that their friends just took them to the top and they had to figure it out. I cannot imagine! That just seems so unsafe to me. It’s also difficult to go to the learning area when you know you can ski most trails on the mountain, but that was my choice. I definitely have to experience things for myself so I’m glad I tried it, and now I know! Skiing feels as natural as walking to me, so I am sure that’s where I am meant to be!
Day 1
I skied the morning of 3/13 and then ate lunch and changed for snowboarding. I got ALL the protective gear. I already had some gear from rollerblading, like knee pads and elbow pads. My gloves wouldn’t fit over the wrist pads, so I bought gloves with wrist guards. I also had crash pants. I was ready.
I headed over to the learning center and was sent to my group. One other woman and two couples. Everyone was very nice and supportive of each other. We started out at the bottom of the magic carpet learning to strap in and gliding a bit. I did ok at this. Next we headed for the magic carpet. The instructor told us what to do but not to worry because if anyone slipped he would hit the emergency button and stop the whole thing. I managed to make it onto the carpet successfully.
Once at the top we started to practice J heel turns, still with just our lead foot strapped in. Here’s where the problems started. I had a tough time with this, was sometimes successful, sometimes not. Lots of falls. We practiced this for the duration of the lesson. I could not get up without assistance so had to roll over, which the instructor said not to do, but there was no other way.
I fell hard several times. If I didn’t have that gear, I am pretty sure I would have broken something. A beginner skier hit me once, but she was going very slowly, so no harm done.
At the end we parted ways but I had no idea how to get out of the bindings! Now I know it’s pretty easy, but I literally sat there for five minutes trying to figure it out by myself. I finally freed myself and it was just after three o’clock. I was so frustrated and needed to feel good about myself so I put my skis back on and took two runs!
Day 2
After a rocky start, I thought, maybe I am meant to be a skier and this just isn’t for me. Maybe I won’t even go to the lesson today. But I knew I couldn’t judge it after one day, so off I went. None of the same people were there; they mentioned Saturday that they’d be practicing on their own. I thought I was going to be with these people who were all from the same family/friends group and not too friendly. I tried to make small talk but they really weren’t interested. Then the instructor came over and we started walking away, just the two of us. I asked if it was just us and she said yes. That other group must have been at capacity. Yay! Private lesson for the group price!
I explained what we worked on the previous day and that I was a skier. She thought it would be harder for me to learn since I already had skiing ingrained in me. We worked on body position, heel turns, and toe turns and she was hoping I could link some turns. Of course, I got a lot more attention in this lesson since it was private. We made many trips up the magic carpet and she worked me hard! Traversing was tiring and I constantly felt like I was going to fall over. In fact, I fell right twice before getting onto the magic carpet, taking out some of the lift line markers.
My biggest issue is that I was putting too much weight on my back leg, causing me to spin around. I did make a few turns and save a few near falls, but the body position felt weird (almost like a cowgirl the instructor said) and I just couldn’t get the weight on the front foot.
Eventually I linked a few turns and told the instructor I was actually smiling through that. She said they make minimum wage and her friends don’t know why she bothers teaching but she said it’s because of moments like that (minimum wage is so crazy to me for what they do - please tip your instructors!). I ended the day on a high note and instead of putting my skis back on, I stayed in the learning area to practice.
This was the end of my lesson taking although this instructor gave me her card and we did click. I considered it but with scheduling and the season coming to a close it just didn’t happen.
Day 3
After skiing in the morning on 3/26 I decided to practice on my own in the learning center. I skied on 3/20 and it was so much fun that I never switched to snowboarding. So on the 26th I was able to make it down to the bottom of the magic carpet area without falling. It seemed like I was making some progress, so I decided to attempt the quad in the beginner area. The snowboard felt so strange as I was riding up, just very heavy. I was scared to get off and was really not in the right position so I kind of slid off. I don’t even think the liftie noticed. It was the end of the day and he seemed to be looking down and not paying attention. After collecting myself and strapping in, I got ready to make some turns. That green trail looked STEEP to me. I have a new respect for beginners. I started to go down and fell, almost flat on my face, like, I felt it in my ribcage and my nose felt about an inch from the snow. Not good. I got down but had to remove the board and recenter myself on the slope. I tend to keep making toe turns until I’m at the edge of the trail. After that, I decided to stay on the magic carpet. I had some more minor falls but mostly could make it to the bottom of the carpet area while remaining upright.
Day 4
Rain was in the forecast for 3/27 but I decided to go out and keep practicing. There was almost no one on the mountain and the summit lift was on wind hold (not at that my snowboard and me would be anywhere near the summit lift anyway!). I don’t know what happened but I started falling forward again like I had done the day before. It was kind of the last straw. It’s scary to fall like that and it gives me an instant headache. I practiced a few more times and decided to give up - for good. I think I was meant to be a skier. I put my skis on and took a few runs before calling it a day due to rain.
Snowboarding always looked so fun to me but it was really hard. I love watching great boarding from the lift, but I think that’s as close to snowboarding I will get. When I was planning to take lessons and looking up information online so many posted that their friends just took them to the top and they had to figure it out. I cannot imagine! That just seems so unsafe to me. It’s also difficult to go to the learning area when you know you can ski most trails on the mountain, but that was my choice. I definitely have to experience things for myself so I’m glad I tried it, and now I know! Skiing feels as natural as walking to me, so I am sure that’s where I am meant to be!