Downhill Skiing...Quick Learner

A couple weeks ago, my cousin Brittany was visiting Winnipeg. So I decided to join a bunch of my family members at Holiday Mountain for a few hours of downhill skiing.

Our two car loads left just before lunch time that Sunday afternoon. Lori driving one and Me driving the other. Naturally I made a few fun car CDs for the 90 minute drive. As we sang along to songs like "My Humps" and "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny" it occurred to me. This would be my first time downhill skiing. I got a little nervous.

Once we arrived, I got a little more nervous. Not so much that I was going to be ill, just enough to let me know that my body was opposing the fact that I was about to throw myself down a slippery hill strapped to a couple of waxed sticks. We walked in, paid and grabbed our gear. Out of the 12 of us, 4 got snow boards and the rest got skiis. I was nervous enough about skiing...I wasn't about to try snowboarding.

So, after I got to the top of the bunny hill conveyor belt (yes, the bunny hill), I stood there...looking down...wondering if I was going to break a leg on my way down. I decided that I was just going to go and figure it out on my way down. So, there I went. Down. Straight down the hill. Screaming, I picked up speed too fast and freaked myself out. I saw the lodge coming closer and closer so I panicked and decided to use my ass as a break. It worked...but in the process, I lost one of my skii poles. While I waited for someone to bring it to me, I thought "I should just go inside and wait for everyone to be done."

Then, I saw this little girl having the time of her life. She looked to be about 6 years old. At that point I told myself I'd go down 2 more times, and then decide if I would go sit down and wait for everyone else to be done. After all, if a 6 year old isn't scared of this, why should I be?!

The second time down, I learned how to control myself so I didn't fall. I skiied past the lodge, and when I made my way back into the line. Lori asked "where did you go? One minute you were going down, the next, you were gone."And the third time, I figured out how to slow down and stop.

After my group had handed in their gear, I was still skiing. This ended up being something that I love. Maybe next time I'll try something other than the bunny hill.