gardenmary
Ski Diva Extraordinaire
DH, DS and I drove up to Snowbasin, UT and skiied Sunday 2/8 through Friday 2/13. We didn't know if we'd even be able to make this trip, since DH's bladder cancer recurred in November. However, he's doing chemo and felt up to it, so off we went.
I had a private lesson each day; I was determined to get past the greens. Day 1, I stayed on the bunny slopes, working over and over on the basics. Day 2, we moved a little bit up the mountain; Day 3, a little further. I've been reading "In the Yikes Zone" and was working not only on technique, but on handling my fear. I realized partway through the week that I was fighting the mountain - which is of course ridiculous. It's like fighting the ocean when kayaking; you aren't going to win. You have to respect it and work with it. That was a big turning point. I was able to ratchet up my confidence so that by the end of the week I was skiing a few blues from the top of the Needles lift with DH and DS (who are both double-black diamond skiers). It was AMAZING and I finally understood the thrill of the sport.
DH skied really well all week. He didn't feel anything pain-wise other than the usual muscle stuff the first few days. The chemo he's doing is a clinical trial to test a very effective drug with very few side effects - the only one he's had is some hair loss, so he had plenty of energy. I think the skiing was actually very therapeutic, almost healing for him - knowing that he could still ski all day and feel good was incredibly reassuring. We'd also just gotten word that the tumors had shrunk about 50% after just 2 chemo cycles, so he was feeling great at the get-go.
I sat at the dinner table last Friday night saying over and over, "I never thought I'd ever do it." But I did! I practiced and practiced and finally made the big breakthrough. I had FUN! Before, I was just trying to acquire a skill; but this trip I had an absolute blast. And once I applied the dynamic of respecting/working with the mountain instead of fighting it, the fear really started to recede. I've been working with the same instructors for a few years now, and they were just as excited as I was.
It was a fabulous trip. DH, DS and I had never been able to ski together before, so doing that on our last afternoon was a really great finish to the week.
Now we're hoping we can go back later this spring! In the meantime, I'm checking the schedule to see if I can get up to the local mountain to practice some more. We just got about 2 feet of snow in the mountains today so maybe this weekend I can get away, while the boys are on a Scout trip.
We brought about 5-6 feet of snow to Utah with us, which posed no problems until the 3rd day when visibility was pretty lousy at the top. Other than that, conditions were GREAT. Either fresh powder over groomed, or groomed powder every day. Some days had moderate snowfall, a couple of them had light snowfall, and Friday was almost clear. Really an amazing and memorable trip.
I had a private lesson each day; I was determined to get past the greens. Day 1, I stayed on the bunny slopes, working over and over on the basics. Day 2, we moved a little bit up the mountain; Day 3, a little further. I've been reading "In the Yikes Zone" and was working not only on technique, but on handling my fear. I realized partway through the week that I was fighting the mountain - which is of course ridiculous. It's like fighting the ocean when kayaking; you aren't going to win. You have to respect it and work with it. That was a big turning point. I was able to ratchet up my confidence so that by the end of the week I was skiing a few blues from the top of the Needles lift with DH and DS (who are both double-black diamond skiers). It was AMAZING and I finally understood the thrill of the sport.
DH skied really well all week. He didn't feel anything pain-wise other than the usual muscle stuff the first few days. The chemo he's doing is a clinical trial to test a very effective drug with very few side effects - the only one he's had is some hair loss, so he had plenty of energy. I think the skiing was actually very therapeutic, almost healing for him - knowing that he could still ski all day and feel good was incredibly reassuring. We'd also just gotten word that the tumors had shrunk about 50% after just 2 chemo cycles, so he was feeling great at the get-go.
I sat at the dinner table last Friday night saying over and over, "I never thought I'd ever do it." But I did! I practiced and practiced and finally made the big breakthrough. I had FUN! Before, I was just trying to acquire a skill; but this trip I had an absolute blast. And once I applied the dynamic of respecting/working with the mountain instead of fighting it, the fear really started to recede. I've been working with the same instructors for a few years now, and they were just as excited as I was.
It was a fabulous trip. DH, DS and I had never been able to ski together before, so doing that on our last afternoon was a really great finish to the week.
Now we're hoping we can go back later this spring! In the meantime, I'm checking the schedule to see if I can get up to the local mountain to practice some more. We just got about 2 feet of snow in the mountains today so maybe this weekend I can get away, while the boys are on a Scout trip.
We brought about 5-6 feet of snow to Utah with us, which posed no problems until the 3rd day when visibility was pretty lousy at the top. Other than that, conditions were GREAT. Either fresh powder over groomed, or groomed powder every day. Some days had moderate snowfall, a couple of them had light snowfall, and Friday was almost clear. Really an amazing and memorable trip.
