In the upper Penisola, near Big Powderhorn Mountain, one of my friends has a log cabin. It is six-hour drive from Chicago, but he drives there a couple times a month, especially during ski season. A few months ago, my friend invited my roommate and me to spend a weekend. Since neither one of us had skied before, we signed up for "learn and love" skiing lessons. Our instructor was a twenty- fife- year- old guy named Blake.
"So, how are we? Ready for some fun, eigh?" he greeted us. "Ok, let me show you how to put the skis on," Blake continued, since nobody replied. In order to put on the skis, I had to step in the boot area of the ski and push down with my foot until I heard "click." Then he showed us how to take them off. Everything seemed very easy: with a pole, I just pushed a little button, right by the heel and the ski popped right off.
skiing in the park
A chairlift in Bad Hofgastein, Austria
English: Tracks of skis in snow in the Sarek Natio...Once we learned how to put on the skis, we took the next step: we learned how to stand, slide, and walk. This exercise required a little more energy than the previous one. Standing and keeping my balance on the skis in not as difficult as it is on the skates. It is actually the same as just standing on the ground with regular shoes. Walking was funny: I had to be careful to make little steps in order not to step on my other ski. Another way to walk was to pretend that I was sliding on wet or freshly waxed floor. Fist, I kind of pushed off with the heel, slowly putting all the weight on that one leg, then slowly bringing the other one closer and did...