Update - ski trip

Ok, so if you read through my old stories, most of them are just funny memories or funny stories. For the future, I would like to keep this blog updated, but that may not happen as well as I would like.

I just got back from a ski trip to Breckenridge, CO with Rance and his mom, Leann. I had never been skiing before and had only been to Colorado once when I was a baby, so I was excited. Rance has been skiing since he was 12 and Leann has been since she was in her 20's, so they really enjoy it.

The mountains are beautiful. Pictures cannot convey how pretty everything is, you have to see it in person. The house we stayed in was equally beautiful. The house belongs to Rance's family friends who are gracious to let their friends stay there when they go to Breckenridge.

We arrived late on Sunday evening, after about 13 hours in the car and driving through snow/ice just past Denver. Monday was a day of rest and acclimating to the 9,000 ft elevation. It's 11,000 ft on some parts of the mountain. We also looked at skis for Rance and Leann, bought some ski pants for me, and rented my skis/boots. Those boots are not comfortable!

My first day was exciting. After getting bundled up and learning to walk in those boots and riding in the gondola (it got better each day, but the height thing still scares me!), I had my first day of ski school. I learned so much in the morning session and actually skied down a bunny hill that afternoon. I learned how to get on and off a ski lift and started to overcome my extreme fear of heights. I fell a few times, but nothing major. By the end of the day, I felt pretty confident in skiing and was anxious to practice more. The runs look a lot more intimidating, but aren't as bad once you start going (at least they did the first day!).

The second day started with some major soreness after Day 1, but I was ready to practice my skills. I wiped out right at the bat and then wiped out once again and didn't think I was going to get up. Getting up on snow/ice with skis is NOT easy at all. Leann and Rance helped me down the trail and I decided to go back to the easier hills to practice. I fell again a few times and managed to get up, but I have to take at least one of my skis off to get up. Today's practice helped me feel better and I managed to ski all the way down the mountain (slowly) instead of taking the gondola back down. It was more fun to ski down anyway.

The third day we tried out a different peak of the mountain, peak 9. I had only been on peak 8 the first two days. I really liked the runs on this peak, there were lots of fun greens (easy) and some fun blues (intermediate). Of course, I have to go slow on the blues and sometimes I feel like I am just sliding instead of actually skiing. I didn't fall today and we skiied all the way down on the 4 O'Clock run again, but this time I went a little faster.

The last day of skiing was the most challenging for me. We started on peak 9 again, on some harder runs and I was a little scared. There were some really steep hills and I felt like I was sliding again but I made it slowly. We went back to peak 8 for a little bit, then on to peak 7, which is all intermediate runs. That was a mistake. Some of the hills were REALLY steep and I got really scared. I was in tears and hyperventilating because I thought for sure I was going to fall and someone would run into me or run me over. People were just flying by me all around! I slide part of the way down on one hill because I was scared. When I thought I had made it to the bottom and the hard stuff was over, we had to go back up to get back over to peak 8 where I would be more comfortable. The way back to peak 8 was just as hard and I was super scared again. My legs were so sore and tired and trying to get down the steep hills were very tough for me. I almost ran over a squirrel on my skis (it ran out in front of me) but I got to go on 3 lifts that I hadn't been on yet, so I got to see more of the mountain. We also skiied down the mountain again and my legs were so tired at this point that I didn't think I could ski another day if I wanted to.

I am proud of myself for learning something new and challenging myself (especially on those intermediate runs). I still need a lot of practice though. I am also proud of myself for not falling while getting on or off the ski lifts. I also overcame some of my fear of heights and got more used to the ski lifts and gondola rides. Next time I need to point my skis more downhill and not get so scared when I go a little fast because I do know how to stop. The scariest thing is when you are going up the ski lift, you realize that you have to get down somehow and that would be by skiing. The longer the ski lift is, the more scared I get when I look at some of the runs. I get very intimidated by the steep runs and hills. I am also proud that I did some tree trails, usually just going around one or a few trees, but at least I had control.

Skiing is an incredible workout. We skiied from about 9:30a to 4:00p with time to eat lunch in between. I had to stop and rest a lot because my legs were sore. I had never felt so tired and so sore than after skiing.

The drive back was long, but I got to sleep and ride as a passenger. I'm so glad that Rance and Leann invited me to go skiing with them and share in their family tradition. I can tell they love skiing and hopefully someday I can be a lot better and keep up with them sometimes. It was so kind of them to include me, help me, and ski with me as I was learning.