Early Ski Lessons

We had our first skiing of the winter of 2009-2010--we never manage to ski in late December due to the annual trip south.  And, as always, much lessons to be had:

• A completely unbuckled boot will make it very hard to ski decently.  Spew Jr.'s boot somehow unbucked and she had a very frustrating first run.  But was glad to realize it was the boot and not her muscle memory.
• Trying to out-think the Montreal skiing public does not work.  We were not the only ones to try to ski on Jan 3rd, hoping that everybody else had returned to work and/or school.  However, Mont Sutton is big enough but yet small enough (if that makes any sense) so that the lift line was much, much shorter than the ticket line.  Plus we ate at the top of the mountain rather than at the base lodge.  Less choice (and latrine for a bathroom) but more elbow room and no wait.
• Fresh snow actually makes it harder to ski.  I forget this every year (and having learned to ski in Pennsylvania, am still not good with fresh snow.  Ice, well, that I have down).  Fresh snow makes for moguls where none usually exist (Mrs. Spew found that out the hard way a couple of years ago), and flat light makes it harder to see where the lumps of snow are concentrated, leading to crossed tips, more air time, and more falls--although soft ones.  Also, skiing in the trees was harder due to the depth of the snow (help me, I am sinking!).
• Chocolate milk is always the right beverage during the ski lunch.
• I will never, ever be a smooth skier.  Occasionally, I can find a rhythm, but my skiing gets ugly as soon as the terrain gets somewhat interesting.  Learning in my teams and then huge gaps in my experience (no skiing while in college or grad school, one trip during my time in Texas) has meant, I think, that I will never quite get it.  But perhaps that is how I feel after the first day.  I usually am happier with my skiing by the end of the season.
• The worst part of skiing is either the drive to or the drive from.  Some places are much closer, but any of the really good places are between 1.5 to 2 hours from where we live.  And the family is always zonked out, and I had no age appropriate podcasts available today (no Adam Carolla while Spew Jr. is in the car). 

Still, a great day, and a nice way to start 2010.  I hope to get out more this year than last, although the March trip to Australia and New Zealand may make that harder to achieve.


PS and the ski excursion explains why I didn't blog this morning ;)