Snow Skiing

While we were in Maggie Valley we went snow skiing.  None of us had ever been skiing before.  We chose the Cataloochee Ski Area because it was the closest ski lodge to our home.  We didn't want to go far and spend a lot of money skiing only to discover that we disliked it.  Not a problem- we all had a blast and want to do it again.

 We arrived around noon and purchased a lift ticket that would be good for the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We did not know anything about the process of buying the tickets, picking up the rental equipment, putting on the boots, etc..; everyone who worked there was super helpful and made sure that we got what we needed.  After getting suited up, we went to our ski lesson.  The kids went with the kid group for their lesson, and Brian and I went with the adult group.  If there was an award for worst in the class, Brian and I would have tied for it.  We were on the struggle bus during our whole lesson.  I couldn't stop or control where I was going at all.  At one point I even ran into the magic carpet lift that was taking skiers up the hill.  Brian had skis that were too small for him and he couldn't stop either.  After an hour and a half of instruction, I did not feel like I had gotten any better.



The kids, on the other hand, were doing pretty well after their lesson.  They were able to control themselves and stop way better than we were.  We decided to try a "real" hill (it was still a green circle). Brian and Owen did great.  They went down twice in a row, and neither one fell on the second go.  I was by far the worst in our party.  I fell five times on the first go- one time running into the pole that holds up the lines for the ski lift.  I got so tired of falling that I finally took my skis off and just walked down the mountain.  Olivia had fallen a bit on the first go as well, so us girls decided to go back to the practice hill and practice some more.  Once we returned to the practice hill I felt like we were finally getting the hang of it.  We skied for several hours.  It was getting dark by the time we left.  Before leaving though, Olivia and I wanted another go at the "real" trail.  She did pretty well the second go round.  I did just as bad as I had the first time and once again ended up walking off the trail. 

Even though I was terrible at skiing, I still want to go again.  I think that this is a thing like swimming or skating where everyone is terrible when they first start but can improve with practice.  That's what I'm telling myself anyway.