Ski Trip Pt II

I had my first ski lesson on Friday. I had never skied before. Not ever.

I decided I wanted to ski instead of snowboard because snowboarding seemed more unnatural and harder. This is what I had thought and this is where the thought had stopped obviously, because it wasn't until I put on skis in the snow that I realised that having skis on is also really hard and unnatural; that if you have never worn skis before it is really hard to manoeuvre and it is just as hard to stand still.

But that was before my lesson, when LB made me put the skis on to see how it felt. My instructor, Federico, was much more gentle, easing me into this new experience.

Federico, obviously, was Italian. He took the group of eight first-timers that I was in. Within 1/2 an hour the group was down to seven. By an hour, six. Ten minutes later it was at five.

First Federico made us put one ski on then ski around in a circle. Then put the ski on the other foot. And circle. Then he would say things like, "Parfect"*. Then we put on two skis and parallel walked up the slightest of inclines. "Bend your knees in towards the slope. Parfect!"

Then skiing down that slightest of slopes. "Open your snow plough." He would say. And when he had tips for us he would start it with "Attention."

"Attention, look forward not at your skis."

"Attention, don't put your poles in the ground."

It was doing the parallel walking (about 4m) up this slight incline that the first girl dropped out. She could not do it. She did not want to. She left. But after a few of these slight 4m ski goes we went up the mountain a bit. Not on a chairlift mind you, but on the Magic Carpet. This is a travelator stuck in the mountain. You see this diagonal line of little people in the picture below? They are on the first leg of the Magic Carpet.


Once we got up to the top a guy in the group that had also been having some trouble got off the travelator, skied all the way down and was never seen again.

The rest of us followed Federico. It is fair to say at this point I was the least competent and least confident. But Federico seemed sure we could all ski down the mountain. I quickly proved him wrong with my complete inability to spread my snow plough wide enough. (Ewww, what?!) Ah, but Federico, he just held my hands and skied down backwards in front of me. Guiding me. "Attention, don't, how you say in English 'AH AH'?"

"Panic?"

"Yes, don't panic. Just relax. You are very, how you say in English?"

"Tense?"

"Yes tense. Just relax."

Federico was right. I just had to relax and after that I really did get better. When he taught us how to turn I was no longer the worst in the group. I felt super.

When LB came to meet me afterwards we went up the Magic Carpet together and it was fine. Fun. Here I am carving shit up.




Then he convinced me to go up further in a chair lift. "Sure!" I said with my new found confidence. But it turns out going on a chair lift with skis on for the first time is scary. Going down a steeper incline than from the travelator is also scary. I kept having to think of Federico, "Just relax. Don't be so tense."

Thanks Federico, what a great ski and life lesson! PARFECT!

*Please ensure you read all Federico's words with an Italian accent.