I’m so excited I can cross this one off. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if it would ever actually happen. I certainly wasn’t going to go out of my way to plan a ski trip and certainly wasn’t wanting to go to Hidden Valley here in St. Louis to learn. Although, all the locals say that if you can ski at Hidden Valley (which is always a sheet of ice) then you can ski anywhere.
Instead, I learned in Sun Valley, ID.
The day started with eating breakfast at The Kneadery and then heading to Dollar Mountain, where we signed up for classes. The price of the classes are a steal—only $39 for a two-hour class, rental gear and lift ticket (greens only). I think the regular price for just a lift ticket is in the $70 range. Tim and I both got our own instructors for the full two hours, which was really nice and super helpful. My instructor was so patient with me. I found out right away that I’m not naturally talented when it comes to skiing, but I eventually did get the hang of it. I can turn to the left with no problems, but for some reason I had a really hard time turning back to the right. I guess it’s normal for people to be able to turn one way better than the other. By the end of my two hours, I had fallen a handful of times (and later found a big bruise on my right leg), but was confident enough to go out for a while longer with just Tim.
Thankfully the mountain was not very busy that day. It also ended up being almost 50 degrees (unusually warm), so I could have gone without my coat. I did ditch my hat and gloves while Tim and I were out there on our own, though. The mountains in the area were really hurting for snow—there were even slushy spots on slopes that I had to go around.
One of my coworkers told me that if I thought I was getting into trouble with my speed, then to just sit down. Well, I tried that once, but because of the angle I was facing, I just kept sliding. Eventually I had to lean over and fall/roll onto my side to stop. It certainly wasn’t my most graceful or proudest moment of the day, but that’s when you pull the “first timer” card out.
Learning to ski really was a lot of fun, even when I got extremely frustrated and didn’t think I could do it. My legs felt heavy the by the end of the day and my upper back was sore, but it’s something that I would definitely do again!
—m.