Last Friday I went skiing by myself for the first time and I have to say it was one of the best ski days I have ever had. I have been complaining for a while that I didn’t have anyone to go skiing with on my Friday’s off. I was a little skeptical when my roommate told me I should just go by myself. I’m normally ok with going places and doing things by myself, but the thought of skiing alone had me a little scared. What if I crashed and hurt myself on a run and no one found me? What if some psycho sat next to me on the lift? What if I slid off the road into a ditch and no one could see me? She said I would be fine. She also said she used to do it all the time when learning how to snowboard and that it was the best.
Friday morning I packed up my car and headed to Powder Mountain (they had the best deal I could find on short notice and I just like the resort). I got there about 9:30 and the place was empty. I think that is what I like about Powder, it isn’t crowded with out-of-towners. It is more of a hidden treasure for locals and visitors in the know. My first couple of runs I was completely alone, I didn’t pass anyone and no one passed me.
On my fourth run my first fear happened. I was cruising down a blue and not really concentrating on my technique when I caught an edge and was propelled forward. My skis popped off as I was sliding face first down the steep slope. When I finally stopped, I saw that my poles were still around my wrists but my skis stopped quite a ways up the slope. I laid there for a little bit, trying to catch my breath after having it knock out of me. As I pushed myself up, I realized that when I tried to brace myself during the fall I totally pulled something in my left shoulder. I was not happy about that because I had been skiing for less than an hour. I had to tell myself that I wasn’t hurt because there was no way I was going to waste a whole day. The pep talk did me good and clicked back into my skis and continued on my merry way.
The remainder of my solo ski day was fantastic. I met quite a few people on the lifts and skied some runs with a couple of them. I even saw Ed Roland, lead singer of my favorite band (or a guy who looks a lot like him, I couldn’t tell). I skied until I could ski no more (because they were shutting down the lifts). On the way home I realized that my shoulder definitely was hurt, I had a hard time lifting it, but I’m so glad it didn’t hinder my most excellent day.
