It seems everyone had showed up for the
powder and by the time I got on the slope the snow was starting to
get packed down. I chose an easy slope called Morning Dew, that, to
my mind anyway, appeared to be a mix of easy and intermediate slopes.
It was the longest run going from the top of the mountain to the
bottom of the chairlift, about 600' drop in elevation. My goal was
to ski from the top to the bottom in one continuous run without
stopping or falling. My last two runs were about perfect. This was
my 7th time skiing.
My first was back in 1968 at Detroit
Mountain, in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota with Tim Berreth and Duane
Orson. Tim is a good skier and I think Duane had some experience
also, I started on the bunny slope, learning how to snow plow. After
some time they convinced me to try an intermediate slope, I recall
crashing into a snow fence or maybe I went over it. We each had a
bota-bag filled with Tawny Port wine, so I am sure I was enjoying a
fine analgesic effect.
The second time was just before
Christmas this past year, I went skiing with daughter Kristen and her
husband Gabe at Terry Peak in the northern Black Hills. I started
out on the bunny hill trying to remember the snow plow. Gabe and I
took a group ski lesson after lunch. The instructor started us on
the bunny hill but soon we were riding the chairlift to the top of
the mountain... I fell down getting off the chairlift and they
stopped the chairlift in my honor (until the old guy could get up).
I was mostly snow plowing but on more gentle slopes could bring my
skis parallel after I did my snow plow turn and that was really
satisfying. Great skiing with Kristen and Gabe.
In February Carol and I headed south on
a road trip to visit my sister and her family in Colorado Springs,
and Carol's sisters, two in Phoenix, and one in Boise with a stop in
Las Vegas to visit our daughter Amy and her husband Daniel. Carol
had planned a stop in Jackson Hole so I could ski with the big boys,
of course on the beginner's slope.
When we got to Boise, my brother-in-law
John said that I had to ski Bogus Basin with his nephew Steve. John
made all the arrangements and I hooked up with Steve on Saturday
morning for the drive up the mountain. It was raining in Boise and
we had our fingers crossed that it would change to snow and it did,
it was snowing, wet and thick at the top of the mountain, you could
hardly see. I got a lift ticket and rented some gear and up the
mountain we went. I could hardly see but was going so slow that
running into anyone wouldn't have resulted in much of an impact. I
continued to work on the snow plow, working to drag that up hill ski
parallel after the turn. Steve showed me how to plant a ski pole to start the turn.
A few days later we found ourselves in
Jackson Hole at the Snow King Resort. Carol had presented a seminar
at Snow King Resort when she worked for the Department of Labor and
wanted to go back and stay for a few days so she was as excited as I
was. I was warned that the ski area was steep by the hotel front,
but was told by the lift ticket office I could do it. It was steep
and I skied the 'Easy Trail' three times, and on the last trip
down the hill, still snow plowing and falling frequently I decided I
needed another lesson so as I got to the bottom of the hill I skied
directly to the ski school and signed myself up for a private lesson.
After dinner (lunch for city slickers) I met my instructor Jim
Sullivan, he had been working/skiing on the mountain for decades.
Jim was a pretty spry looking 69 year old with an easy smile. Up the
chairlift we went and he started building my skill, first utilizing
my well developed snow plow and converting it into a parallel skiing
experience. I had a great time and for the first time actually
accomplished some parallel skiing. Our lesson ended spectacularly,
he said show me what you have learned, and I did a beautiful face
plant fall.
I was pretty pumped with my experience
at Snow King and a week later Carol and I drove to Terry Peak. Terry
Peak has a beautiful, modern lodge, with a diner and bar on the
top floor, huge windows give a great view of the skiers. The lower
level is the ticketing counter, the rental equipment, pro shop and
bathrooms. They have 5 lifts: a magic carpet, a triple chair lift
and two high speed quads. I got ski a package: lift ticket,
equipment rental and a group ski lesson for only $3 more than the
lift ticket and rental. I practiced the stuff that Jim had taught me
the week before and after dinner had a group lesson with Karen “Care
Bear”. I was the only person who signed up so I had a personal
lesson. Karen is a marathon talker, I could hardly get a word in
edge-wise. But when we started down the slope she was all business
and she had me doing one drill after another to get that up-hill ski
to parallel with the bottom ski and slowly I started to get control
of that upper ski. Carol got a nice video of my skiing on the last
run of the day and posted it to Facebook. On the way back to Lead we stopped by a ski shop and
I bought a set of used skies, boots and poles.
The following week, I went skiing with neighbors Tom and Maggie on the 24th
of March. It was the last week of skiing at Terry Peak. Tom and Maggie are
better skiers so we split up in the morning, I hit the easy slopes
working on the previous weeks lessons and was amazed that I was
pulling that up-hill ski parallel... finally! I was having a great
time, after 3 runs down 'Stewart Slope' I headed for 'Surprise' an intermediate slope.
Later I skied a couple of runs with Tom. It was good skiing with
Tom, I tend to take my time getting mentally ready at the top of the
run, sometimes hanging around for a couple of minutes and Tom just
goes for it so he got me moving a bit more aggressively down the
slope. I was handling the intermediate slopes much better this day
and was really satisfied with my skiing.
I have fallen head over heels for
skiing... quite literally, but only once head over heels. What a
great activity for retirement. Looking forward to next year.
