good woman down

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.