Its Like NordicTrac®, Only Outside

Me @ the Snack Lodge...attempting to look cool...AND SUCCEEDING!

 

 

Growing up in the South (New Orleans) I am not accustomed to snow or snow-related activities. Since I moved out to California where, I was shocked to discover, there are seasons resulting in drastic temperature and climate changes. Snow in Louisiana is usually a combination of rain, sleet and freak twenty-eight degree cold-fronts resulting in all-around unpleasantness. Here in California, I was amazed at being outside in fifty(ish) degree weather and seeing this white stuff everywhere. I am told elevation (another thing I am not familiar with) is the reason for the delightful marriage of pleasant temperatures and non-sleety snow. I have been downhill skiing once in my life and would love the chance to try it again, but this day I was invited to Bear Valley to try cross-country skiing.

I should mention that I am part Swedish and I have seen many NordicTrac® commercials in my youth, which gave me the unfounded confidence to attempt cross-country skiing with no instruction or safety warnings of any kind. I was delighted to learn that cross-country skiing is exceptionally easy, with the noted exception of getting your skis on. In the process of attaching my boots to the bindings I am pretty sure I did an Olympic gymnastics routine and did one maneuver from which I fear my groin may never recover. Once I bolted myself to the skis and managed to remain upright, we took off down the trail. After a few more near splits and girlish shrieks I started to find a rhythm.

I spent most of the trip staring at my skis...

I soon became aware that my skill level fluctuated directly with whether or not my skis stayed in the grooves on the trail. When my skis remained in the groove I was a force to be reckoned with. I was channeling my Swedish heritage and gliding effortlessly across the soft, white meadow. Conversely, when my skis came out of the groove I quickly became a giraffe on ice with gangly limbs flailing about in all directions. This was decidedly not smooth nor worthy of a NordicTrac® commercial, albeit pretty good exercise.

After a little while my ability to stay upright and ski safely vastly improved and that is when we stopped by a little lodge for some soup and water. It is at this point on our trip that I finally noticed the breathtaking scenery. The open meadows blanketed with white snow, and dark-green pine trees with tufts of powder gently resting on their branches, all surrounded by snow-capped mountains and a clear blue sky. My subsequent realization was that I had spent the entire time staring directly at my own skis and little else. On the way back from our snack stop, I really got the hang of it and was taken in by the joy of trying a new activity and developing a new skill. It turns out that cross-country skiing is quite easy to pick up (even for a southerner) and quite enjoyable. Next time I will have to try the other color-coordinated slopes; I had assumed that everything that wasn't a green trail meant that I would surely die and I didn't even attempt to figure out which color corresponded to which degree of imminent doom.

This is what I saw when I finally stopped looking at my skis...very beautiful.

All-in-all I had a great experience and look forward to the next time I can ski across the beautiful meadows of Bear Valley. You know, once my groin recovers.