The Great 2009 Ski Week
The Ski Week
The Characters: Me, J, R, RW, S, A, and M.
The Timeframe: Friday Jan 9 2009 to Friday Jan 16 2009
Where: Smuggler's Notch Resort Vermont
J's parents part own a condo at Smuggler's Notch Resort in Vermont. I don't know what the final cost is going to be, but we were allowed to rent it for a fraction of the normal price. (But really, not free? Well, we'll see what it comes out to in the end, but it should be for only the maintenance fees and stuff for the week). Anywhoo, I've never skiied before so I wanted to try it. Everyone but M is local so we rented a Durango and drove the 12 hours up to VT. We picked M. up at the airport and got into the place at about 730ish on last Friday. This was too late to rent skis and get passes and stuff so we went for groceries and ordered pizza. The condo had one room with a king bed for R and RW (the married couple), there was another bedroom with a queen and two singles that three of teh guys took, and A and I took the big sectional sofa rather than getting a cot and folding out the bed in the sofa each night. A doesn't snore (much) and neither of us were tall enough that our feet were fighting for the last cushion. So it worked out pretty well.
The next morning, we went and got passes and rentals. The boots I rented were a bit tight on my calves but I thought that's how they were supposed to be. Not. I signed up for an afternoon lesson. M. went down to the lesson with me and showed me a little bit but OMG my shins were BURNING because of the boots. The lesson was good. The instructor was perky and loud. I fell twice, once in what the other people in the class said was a pretty spectacular fashion. We got on the lifts and I didn't fall getting off though it was a near thing. The instructor took us down the liftline. I made it without falling or killing anyone. After the lesson, I was done. DONE. I took my boots back and got a different set. One that didn't squeeze my leg muscles out the side. OUCH. The other funny thing is that I was wearing like men's size 11 or 12 boots and they fit just fine in the toes. I started off with smaller ones and had to keep going up half a size until I was wearing the same boots as A and M were (actually, mine might have been half a size bigger than M's) and both those guys are 6'2 or 6'3. It was a group of tall people because J at about 5'9ish was I think the smallest. RW might have been about that height too. Everyone else topped 6 ft.
On Sunday, I took it easy. I think I was incubating a cold and my shin bone still hurt from the trouncing the boot gave it. J, the guy who owned the place and organized the trip, had a bad fall and hurt his shoulder. I hung out with him. We went to the pool. It was outdoors but heated. So since I didn't go underwater, my hair got all frosty from the steam and cold mix. That was cool. On Monday, I took a second lesson. I plowed over two people right after they took us up the lifts so they gave me an instructor to myself. So that's the way to do that. ;) I got better at turning and slowing down but I am still not very good at stopping. I kinda stop and then continue on a bit. Pretty sad. I yelled at my feet to stop but they didnt' listen. I went back to the condo after the lesson and J and RW and R had gone off to the hospital to have J's shoulder x-rayed. They also put a turkey in the oven. I am good at cooking turkey, so I took over that part. J broke his shoulder. He came back wiht a sling and wanted to know a good orthopedist (sp?) near where we live. I gave him the name of the guy who looked at my finger when I broke it a year or two ago.
On Tuesday M and I went on some of the green runs near the condo. He was taking it easy cuz he had bruised his butt in a fall. I learned that I have no need for speed. I hate it. So even teh easiest greens were a huge trial because I was about hyperventilating the whole way down. I accidentally hung a left when I should have stayed right and ended up on a steeper green. I fell about three times but M complimented me on my falling technique. I tweaked my knee a little and than stopped. On Tuesday night, we took night snowboard lessons. They were fun but since my shin was still bothering me and my knee too, I didnt stay the whole time. I learned the basics and got the heck out of dodge. M and A also took them, but they stayed for the whole thing.
Wednesday was really cold and so I returned my rentals having had enough of skiing and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing wii. On Thursday RW, M, and I went ice skating, M and A went snowboarding in the afternoon, and M and A and I went to the Funzone at the place. They had a few of those inflatable slides and mazes. No bouncy cage sadly. One of the guys (A) managed to wrench his shoulder on the bouncy maze which is pretty sad seeing as how he survived a week of skiing wihtout injury but then got hurt at the Fun Zone. Lame. We pakced up as much as possible that night because Friday's weather was supposed to be like 15 below 0. (for those on the celcius scale, that is a whole f-ing lot of degrees below freezing).
Friday, we drove back. We dropped M off at the airport in the morning and the rest of us trekked on back to Virginia. I was a bitch and monopolized one of the better middle seats the whole ride back. S who said about 50 words the entire trip was stuck in the back the whole time. Which didn't bother me much because he hadn't done a shift back there on the way up and I did two.
Oh, heard from J. My total for gas, tolls, lodging, food, and vehicle comes to...266 dollars and some change. Maybe 200ish (maybe 300ish) dollars for all the rentals and lessons and lift tickets and that was a pretty decently priced vacation for a week of new things and mostly fun. My Olympic skiing dreams might be a little dead, but really, for spending all of four or five hours on skis (total, in my entire life and never before last week), I wasn't completely terrible. I just need to learn to go really slow. And to stop. Maybe figure out a breaking system for skis.
So that was my ski week. If you are on one of my custom filters you saw my drama post right before this. Go weigh in on that. The rest of you, eh, you don't care about my drama. On Saturday I slept most of the day. On Sunday I went in to town for groceries and Walmart had a WiiFit so I got one of them! Yay! I also went to the JoAnn Fabrics which is moving so everything is on sale and got some more material. Might go back today. Don't know. Got some lovely green and black plaid taffeta that I want to make a Civil War Costume out of but there isn't quite enough. So I might look for plain black taffeta and make the jacket out of the black and the skirt out of the plaid and edge the jacket in plaid. And then sell it on ebay. Or wear it for halloween next year and then sell it on ebay. Also went to the used book store and got 70 dollars of books for 8 dollars thanks to trade-ins. I have a lot more trade ins but they are limiting it to ten at a time right now. boo. Today I might be going to Ikea. Or else reading and not cleaning. Or maybe cleaning and sewing. Or else sleeping. Jury's still out.
The Characters: Me, J, R, RW, S, A, and M.
The Timeframe: Friday Jan 9 2009 to Friday Jan 16 2009
Where: Smuggler's Notch Resort Vermont
J's parents part own a condo at Smuggler's Notch Resort in Vermont. I don't know what the final cost is going to be, but we were allowed to rent it for a fraction of the normal price. (But really, not free? Well, we'll see what it comes out to in the end, but it should be for only the maintenance fees and stuff for the week). Anywhoo, I've never skiied before so I wanted to try it. Everyone but M is local so we rented a Durango and drove the 12 hours up to VT. We picked M. up at the airport and got into the place at about 730ish on last Friday. This was too late to rent skis and get passes and stuff so we went for groceries and ordered pizza. The condo had one room with a king bed for R and RW (the married couple), there was another bedroom with a queen and two singles that three of teh guys took, and A and I took the big sectional sofa rather than getting a cot and folding out the bed in the sofa each night. A doesn't snore (much) and neither of us were tall enough that our feet were fighting for the last cushion. So it worked out pretty well.
The next morning, we went and got passes and rentals. The boots I rented were a bit tight on my calves but I thought that's how they were supposed to be. Not. I signed up for an afternoon lesson. M. went down to the lesson with me and showed me a little bit but OMG my shins were BURNING because of the boots. The lesson was good. The instructor was perky and loud. I fell twice, once in what the other people in the class said was a pretty spectacular fashion. We got on the lifts and I didn't fall getting off though it was a near thing. The instructor took us down the liftline. I made it without falling or killing anyone. After the lesson, I was done. DONE. I took my boots back and got a different set. One that didn't squeeze my leg muscles out the side. OUCH. The other funny thing is that I was wearing like men's size 11 or 12 boots and they fit just fine in the toes. I started off with smaller ones and had to keep going up half a size until I was wearing the same boots as A and M were (actually, mine might have been half a size bigger than M's) and both those guys are 6'2 or 6'3. It was a group of tall people because J at about 5'9ish was I think the smallest. RW might have been about that height too. Everyone else topped 6 ft.
On Sunday, I took it easy. I think I was incubating a cold and my shin bone still hurt from the trouncing the boot gave it. J, the guy who owned the place and organized the trip, had a bad fall and hurt his shoulder. I hung out with him. We went to the pool. It was outdoors but heated. So since I didn't go underwater, my hair got all frosty from the steam and cold mix. That was cool. On Monday, I took a second lesson. I plowed over two people right after they took us up the lifts so they gave me an instructor to myself. So that's the way to do that. ;) I got better at turning and slowing down but I am still not very good at stopping. I kinda stop and then continue on a bit. Pretty sad. I yelled at my feet to stop but they didnt' listen. I went back to the condo after the lesson and J and RW and R had gone off to the hospital to have J's shoulder x-rayed. They also put a turkey in the oven. I am good at cooking turkey, so I took over that part. J broke his shoulder. He came back wiht a sling and wanted to know a good orthopedist (sp?) near where we live. I gave him the name of the guy who looked at my finger when I broke it a year or two ago.
On Tuesday M and I went on some of the green runs near the condo. He was taking it easy cuz he had bruised his butt in a fall. I learned that I have no need for speed. I hate it. So even teh easiest greens were a huge trial because I was about hyperventilating the whole way down. I accidentally hung a left when I should have stayed right and ended up on a steeper green. I fell about three times but M complimented me on my falling technique. I tweaked my knee a little and than stopped. On Tuesday night, we took night snowboard lessons. They were fun but since my shin was still bothering me and my knee too, I didnt stay the whole time. I learned the basics and got the heck out of dodge. M and A also took them, but they stayed for the whole thing.
Wednesday was really cold and so I returned my rentals having had enough of skiing and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and playing wii. On Thursday RW, M, and I went ice skating, M and A went snowboarding in the afternoon, and M and A and I went to the Funzone at the place. They had a few of those inflatable slides and mazes. No bouncy cage sadly. One of the guys (A) managed to wrench his shoulder on the bouncy maze which is pretty sad seeing as how he survived a week of skiing wihtout injury but then got hurt at the Fun Zone. Lame. We pakced up as much as possible that night because Friday's weather was supposed to be like 15 below 0. (for those on the celcius scale, that is a whole f-ing lot of degrees below freezing).
Friday, we drove back. We dropped M off at the airport in the morning and the rest of us trekked on back to Virginia. I was a bitch and monopolized one of the better middle seats the whole ride back. S who said about 50 words the entire trip was stuck in the back the whole time. Which didn't bother me much because he hadn't done a shift back there on the way up and I did two.
Oh, heard from J. My total for gas, tolls, lodging, food, and vehicle comes to...266 dollars and some change. Maybe 200ish (maybe 300ish) dollars for all the rentals and lessons and lift tickets and that was a pretty decently priced vacation for a week of new things and mostly fun. My Olympic skiing dreams might be a little dead, but really, for spending all of four or five hours on skis (total, in my entire life and never before last week), I wasn't completely terrible. I just need to learn to go really slow. And to stop. Maybe figure out a breaking system for skis.
So that was my ski week. If you are on one of my custom filters you saw my drama post right before this. Go weigh in on that. The rest of you, eh, you don't care about my drama. On Saturday I slept most of the day. On Sunday I went in to town for groceries and Walmart had a WiiFit so I got one of them! Yay! I also went to the JoAnn Fabrics which is moving so everything is on sale and got some more material. Might go back today. Don't know. Got some lovely green and black plaid taffeta that I want to make a Civil War Costume out of but there isn't quite enough. So I might look for plain black taffeta and make the jacket out of the black and the skirt out of the plaid and edge the jacket in plaid. And then sell it on ebay. Or wear it for halloween next year and then sell it on ebay. Also went to the used book store and got 70 dollars of books for 8 dollars thanks to trade-ins. I have a lot more trade ins but they are limiting it to ten at a time right now. boo. Today I might be going to Ikea. Or else reading and not cleaning. Or maybe cleaning and sewing. Or else sleeping. Jury's still out.