skiin’

Hubby’s parent’s took all of us – two of them, four brothers, four sisters-in-law, 7 grandchildren – skiing in Breckenridge for Christmas.

I was not a skier before getting to Colorado.  Nine years ago I skied for a day and a half and never really got the hang of it.  So on the first day of skiing Hubby helped me put on my skis and put me on the ski lift with his dad.  I had no idea what I was doing.  On the 10-minute ride I asked my father-in-law how to get off the lift.  He was surprised.  “You don’t know how to get off a ski lift?”

At the time I thought he couldn’t believe I didn’t know how because, come on, getting off a lift is easy.  But looking back I think he was incredulous that his son put me on a lift when I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING.

Getting off the lift I promptly fell on my butt.  And I couldn’t get up.  Hubby was there, sweetly smiling and patiently giving me instructions, and I would have cursed him out loud if his family hadn’t been standing there.  Trying to stand upright on a downhill slope on ski/snow combination that is slicker than ice when I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING … well, it took me a long time to stand up.  Hubby slowly got me down the mountain.  And I kind of figured out what I was doing.  Then it was time for lunch.

After lunch someone decided (and I went along with) that the sisters-in-law who weren’t 7 1/2 months pregnant should ski together to leave the boys to their black slopes.  So the three of us girls went up the lift, they made sure I was standing up on my skis before they went down the mountain without me.  I was going so slow there was no way for them to stay with me.  But I didn’t fall too often so I felt okay.  Then we had our last run mapped out before the lifts closed.  Seattle SIL made it down first.  Then Manhattan SIL and I got lost.  We should have turned right when we turned left and ended up going down a small blue slope.  A blue slope on the first day of skiing is frightening.  I made it halfway down the hill, got stuck in a fence, took off my skis and hiked down the rest of the way.  Once I caught up with Manhattan SIL we walked down to our meeting point and found Seattle SIL.  She’d been waiting 45 minutes. 

Day two I sat out.  All my sister’s-in-law were sitting out so it was a good day to shop and laugh and not ski in negative temperature weather.  Not only negative degree windchills, but below zero temps.

Day three Hubby spent the day with me.  And friends, I finally knew what I was doing.  On the green slopes, anyway.  I was going fast down those hills, able to stop and start and swerve with ease around the newer beginners.  Then Hubby convinced me to go down a blue run because I wouldn’t be able to improve without challenging myself.  He was right.  So after lunch we went down a blue.  And I was frustrated and falling down as much as I had that first morning.  But I made it!  And then I was skiing fast once again on the greens at the bottom of the mountain.  Then Hubby and I tried to go down one more green run before the lifts closed and we ended up going down a blue run and this time I was mighty frustrated because it was the end of the day and the sun was going down and my muscles were tired and I wanted to be done.  Hubby patiently walked me through it and I made it to a green slope where I whipped around and had a great time.  Then we were done.  Boo.  I want to go back.

Some highlights of the trip:

• Hubby telling me about the Keystone Ski-Lift Disaster while we were on the ski lift. 
• A skier tumbling down the hill in a glory of snow and skis and loud curses.  I was watching him before his accident because he and all his friends were skiing too fast and too close to us beginners.  Then one of his friends tripped him up and he broke his nose.  Karma.

Most of all I’ll remember drinking lots of coffee, eating lots of cookies while laughing constantly with this family that has become my own.