Saturday, 14 January 2012

No right turn...

In an earlier post relating to this years McKinley trip I stated that "We have a strong team with climbers having different strengths". Come May when on the mountain we are planning to use skis on the lower slopes rather than Snow shoes, this should be allot quicker, easier and safer with the amount of snow bridges and hidden crevasses. The only problem with this is the fact that my strength isnt Skiing, Ive never even put skis on my feet before, This could be a problem but I am determined to put this right.
I browsed the Internet looking for all my local ski slopes and lessons available, then I remembered the Snowdome in Milton Keynes where they use a real ski slope with real snow, I looked through and managed to get myself booked onto a full days lesson where they informed me they could turn me into an intermediate skier within the 8hrs.
Anyway I arrived at the Snowdome a little anxious as to how I was going to perform, there seemed to be lots of these young snowboarder dudes walking around in there fancy clothing, woolly hats and multi coloured boards which i knew were going to be flying past me on the slopes. I booked myself in, collected my boots, skis and helmet and waited for my instructor for the day. he arrived and after a quick briefing we were on the slopes, i picked it up pretty quickly and wondered what all the fuss was about, and it wasn't long before i was going from the steeper top section. going down, fast and stopping seemed pretty easy, it was the turning that I was having difficulty with, I couldn't seem to turn properly, Run after run I would get a good one then think Ive nailed it then on the next one end up nearly taking someone else out. After 8hrs of solid skiing and tramping back up the slope i was a little tired.
Overall I think it was a good day and I feel confident that a little more practise when out on Ice fest next week should see me getting those turns right.

I was unable to get any pictures as they didn't allow cameras into the slopes but this has a similarity to how I would Have looked.

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Climb if you will, but remember that courage and strength are
naught without prudence, and that a momentary negliance may destroy the happiness of a lifetime. Do nothing in haste; Look well to each step; and from the beginning think what may be the end