Saturday 12 January 2013

A Day on the Mountain


There is something to be said about spending a day skiing.  There is also something to be said about spending a day anywhere but work.  I guess you could think about that in many ways, and probably suggest warmer alternatives, like spending a day at the beach or something like that.

True.

I like both options, but I live in Canada, and January is simply not beach weather.  If I want to go to the beach, one day off is not going to be sufficient.  I would need to take a week (of course, going to the Rockies to ski would also take a week.....hmmm)

Skiing is a pretty good adrenaline rush.  Careening down hill, sometimes in control, sometimes not, is pretty thrilling.  A double black diamond run can really get the heart pumping.  And the windburn you get on your face roughly approximates a tan.

I can't lie to my readers (well I could, but what would be the point) I am not a great skier.  I am an intermediate skier with less of a death wish than most people on the mountain.  Sometimes I am cautious, sometimes I am reckless.  I guess it all depends.

I am a skier, not a snowboarder.  That is just a clarification, not a snobby declaration.  Snowboarding looks pretty cool, and I wish I could do it, but I am worried about being too old to learn it.  A good snowboarder seems very graceful, carving turns with ease, riding the mountain like it's a wave on the ocean.  Of course a bad snowboarder is just one more obstacle in my way, and an unpredictable one at that.

I might whine about having to shovel snow, but without snow there would be no skiing.  And if there were no snow, I couldn't take a midweek break to go skiing.

3 comments:

  1. I didn't know you skied. I didn't try when I was in Canada, not for fear, I'm just not a sporstman. Perhaps the most sporting activity I would do is sit down at a buoy/float and go down in the snow. When my girlfriend and I were in Banff we didn't have time to search for it. I wish I could return to Canada soon to try some winter sport, maybe.

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  2. Skiing is fun. Hopefully you will get a chance to try it. And Apres ski (after skiing), when you drink alcohol and talk about the day (is also great).
    Other fun things to do in winter are tobogganing, or tubing, or sliding down the mountain on anything you can find (lunch trays from the food court are fun). You don't have to be sportsman for that--thins winter I would like to try dogsledding, or snowshoeing. We will see.
    I am sure, some time in the future, you will be back in Canada, and you can experience another winter here.

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  3. right now I'm watching on sportTV the snowboard world championship in Quebec, at Stoneham city. It seems very cool. The Canadian is on second place, but just for a little difference, behind the Austrian.

    the weather couldn't be better: snow on a sunny day, and I already felt it, and I really liked it.

    Oh, I found a very good pancake recipe! Finally!
    have a good weekend.

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