Training Day One

Today was my first day on the slopes and the first day of training. Josh took the car because Vanessa had to be at work at 0800, so I arrived almost 45 minutes early. They started the meeting half an hour early and Jo, the woman in charge of the training, called everyone who was there less early “stragglers.” First, we had a meeting where they tried to cram about 60 people into a room built for 20 or so in serious violation of fire codes. They introduced all the instructors, had us write our names and what we were supposed to be teaching, and not much else happened there.

Shortly after everyone was there we went up the mountain and split into groups. It turns out most of these newcomers aren’t even certified instructors. The 7 people of my group were with a funny young Australian coach. We first just did a couple of runs to get our ski-legs back. Then we did a few more runs with exercises to practice our balance. We started laughing after the second time he said, “Let’s just go up and do another run?” We pretty much just skied until lunch, though we did some exercises like jumping into each turn, and wedge turns.

It snowed rather heavily all day, which is a very good sign. The snow makers were still running full blast in the storm too. With luck, it will mean that some more runs will be open tomorrow. We only had one blue run to ski on today. I was the only one of my group with a facemask, because it had been so sunny all week.

We had an hour for lunch and nobody knew how to kill that much time. So we just chatted for most of it. After a 50% employee discount, I still paid over $7 for a hamburger and a bottle of water.

After lunch we did a “first time on snow” beginner lesson. I think I pretty much already know how to give one of those as well as our coach. We learned what our gear was and how to put it on and glide around in skis. Some of us had fun getting in character as people who’d never skied before. Towards the end of the day someone commented to me, “I think my skiing is regressing.” It was still a snowstorm so we got cold standing around, and we stopped to take a quick run before coming back to learn how to stop, and finally how to turn.

We rode the beginner button lift to ski down and practice linked wedge turns. It’s an uncomfortable lift, and someone said, “I feel violated after that. The lift sexually molested me.” Training finished around 1500, and I and at least one other guy went up for a last run.

I could have done another run because there was a “pro night” at the resort’s ski shop at 1730. It wasn’t worth taking the bus home and back, so I just sort of waited around until 1700 and went to the shop. The ski and boot manufacturers came to show off their stuff with big discounts, but not the things I was looking for. I can’t afford and don’t really need a new pair of skis yet, though I saw some I liked. I just bought a new pair of ski pants and glove liners from the shop, for a little over $125 with my 30% employee discount. I saw a really nice jacket with most of the features I wanted, but it doesn’t match my color scheme. The sales guy recommended that I find the Columbia outlet store to search for a jacket more like the one I have. That’s on the bus route on the way to my house and I plan to look there on Wednesday.

We finally have the Internet working at home, so no more struggling to find a signal for me.