The weather here has been brilliant ...warm enough to sit outdoors and eat a picnic lunch at the base and cool enough to want to zip up your down parka at the top of the lift. The altitude is a factor in these early days. Summit County is high even in your HOUSE. Frisco, where we arer staying is at 9,000 feet. And at the top of the mountain you are at 10,000 feet plus. So Hunter has come up with a new skiing mantra. Those of you who remember the book "The Inner Game of Tennis" from the 70's will recall the mantra "bounce hit" designed to take you out of an analytical mode about your game and put you in a "flow" mode. Well we have one called "belly button-breathe." You imagine a little cord from your belly button to the tip of your skis. You stay focused on THAT while you make your turns and in between you breathe deeply. Belly button - breathe .... belly button - breathe.And you need all the oxygen you can muster to feed these screaming thigh muscles. First run is always a nice one. Second run is hard ... muscles tighten up ... breathing is harder. Then third run is a charm. Make it to the third run and you are enjoying things. Then it is just a matter of how long your legs will last. Today promises to be another warm and sunny one. Then the clouds and snow will visit for a stretch.
3 comments:
I never got the hang of downhill. I also had a couple bad lift experiences. Years ago, in Old Forge, NY, I had the displeasure of trying to use one of those 'T-bars' I think that is what they are called... and was dragged up the mountain until they stopped it. In the early 90s on Whiteface in New York, the lift cable holding the chairs popped out of the pulley and was caught in the pulley support. My wife (then girlfriend) and I, as well as other skiers, dangled there until they could get the cable back in the pulley. That ended my downhill career. ;)
I don't think I'll ever try again.
What horror stories, Barry. T-Bars and Poma Lifts are not for the faint of heart. I avoid them when I can. And you haven't lives until you've had a pair of gloves shredded by a rope tow !
But I DO like to cross-country ski, but it has been a while unfortunately. ;) Enjoy your time!
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