Whew! I skied Mammoth today and lived to tell about it. I road my first ever ski lift and everything Jeff and Denise said about it was true. It wasn't a big deal at all. My worst fear was that I would fall flat on my face getting off the lift and it would hit me in the back of the head causing me to be transported down the mountain on the back of a snow mobile. I'm happy to report that didn't happen.
Today we went to Eagle Lodge and started on the easiest slopes. My first run went quite well and I didn't fall once. The first two trails we road down were gentile and I was feeling confident. The last trail, heading back to the lodge, was a little steep and caused me to move a little faster then I wanted too. Still, it was exhilarating and I was excited to go again.
On the second decent down the mountain I fell twice, but at very low speed. Actually, probably because of very slow speed. It shook my nerves a little and caused me to loose my confidence. I made it to the bottom without any major incidents but wasn't sure I was up for a third run. I also noticed the soreness starting in my legs from overusing the pizza wedge I am so dependent on to control my speed.
After lunch I agreed to go for a third run. The three of us headed up and Jeff split to scope a run that Denise said was easier than it actually is (she wanted me to try it.) Denise hung with me and we met up with Jeff half way down the mountain. The third run was tough on my muscles but I wasn't as scared so I took the opportunity to practice my parallel skiing, which went pretty well. I'm still overly dependent on my pizza wedge. I was pretty beat and there was still a couple of hours left before the slopes closed so I let Jeff and Denise go off without me and enjoy some more challenging trails while I listened to the guitar player at Eagle Lodge.
Tomorrow I'm going to try cross-country skiing here at the lodge. The guys who work the front desk said, "if you can walk you can cross-country ski." Which was all I needed to hear. Of course they also said there was a 90 minute lesson first thing tomorrow morning. Hmmm. Suspicious that I need a 90 minute lesson to learn something as simple as walking. Well, we'll see how that goes. If nothing else, I'm sure to enjoy the exquisite scenery and I can always utilize my Plan B; head to the lodge early and enjoy cocoa by the fire.
By the way, the internet connection here is really slow so we haven't been posting photos. We have been taking lots though and will post them when we return home.
-Christie
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