February 26, 2006

A Week at Mt. Bachelor

Whew!

After about 30 days of skiing, it's easy to think you're in shape. It's only when you ski for 6 days in a row that you realize you need to keep working!

My son, his friend Jake and I just got back from a great week at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. The trip was memorable for two reasons: first, the Summit chair was open nearly every day (it's often closed due to wind) and we were able to ski all over the mountain, and secondly, I got a good introduction to snowboarding.

Spencer and Jake teach snowboarding at the ski school where I teach skiing and they were great. In one run on the beginner chair, they were able to get me turning in both directions and I was able to spend the rest of the day practicing.

It's interesting how similar (and yet so different) the required skills are for skiing and riding. The main thing I struggled with was balancing properly on the board and executing the toe side turn. At first, I found myself leaning back, making it hard to turn, and as I got a little more comfortable sometimes found myself using too much inclination and putting too much edge onto the toe side.

I just need to keep practicing!