Any Skiers out there...

Well that wasn't the inspiration I was looking for. My goal is to stay on the greens for the most part. I was hoping they would be easy joy rides down the hill. Considering I had some uncomfortable moments at Perfect North this could be a week of misery. My wife has never really skied so I think she is screwed on this trip.

Sorry... can't help you.  I went once in my life, while in college, with a bunch of friends... to Estes Park, Colorado.   I was terrified.   I come from FLAT land...(South of Houston). 

I had a good time drinking and chasing "snow bunnies".   But, HELL TO THE NO on falling down a mountain covered by snow. 

I survived the trip.

Got to Denver on Tuesday night and it was about 60 and not much snow to date in the mountains. On the way to Breckenridge they had anywhere from 12 to 24 inches of snow on the forecast so the drive up was a bit treacherous. One thing that I noticed immediately was the thinner air almost makes you feel like your suffocating from time to time. Going up the steps leaves you out of breath. Also DRINK LOTS OF WATER. The first 2 nights I had a severe headache and was up until about 3 in the morning then I smartened up.

The group I was with was all seasoned skiers and were into the Black and some were Double Black skiers. My focus was to master the Greens so naturally the first hill we go down was a Blue. When I looked down I was a bit on the uneasy to terrified spectrum. I decided to go for it cutting back and forth and then all the sudden I started going straight down. Luckily it leveled off before I took a dive. That panic feeling did not sit well and at the point I started skiing with the 10 to 14 year old girls and convinced them the Greens were where we needed to be. After a few runs they got bored and graduated to the bigger slopes. I spent the rest of the first day trying to figure out how to turn. One way was good but going back the other way was a major work in progress. On day one my wife took a ski lesson with one of her friends for about 3 hours which was a complete waste of time and money for her. It was a 70 year old guy named Bob and his only focus was to try to remember their names by the end of the class.

Day 2 Skiing was an improvement. I skied with my wife and a few of the group and it did not go well. It was on the ultimate bunny hill which seemed to be quite a challenge. Luckily 2 of our group used to be ski instructors and they did work with them which helped but clearly not enough to get down the hill on their own. She and another wife only had 2 day passes so there focus was to get down the hill and get some beverages. After that I tried to ski with the group a bit but was not ready to hang on the Blues with as I was having a panic attack each time down the hill. I broke off again and worked on form and getting more comfortable on the Blues which I was getting to the point where the panicky feel was less and less.

Day 3 Off Day

Day 4 Skiing was a big improvement. I spoke with our skiing instructors and the reason why I had issues turn back one direction was that I was not turning my hips. He said to move your arms like you are driving a car. It made a huge difference. I was actually to the point where I could start by going straight down the blues and cutting back and forth. I was going much more vertical and faster. The only time I felt the panicky feel was at the top of a big decline. But once I go going all was well. Pretty sure I could have made it down some blacks but at 56 I did not see any reason to push myself. Back in my younger days I tore both ACL's so I had a supportive brace for each knee. The first one was done in the late 80's and was the kind with the big bars. Felt a bit like the bionic man.

The village at Breckenridge was pretty neat but with covid eating out was a challenge. On our day off we went down and had a first lunch at a NY pizza joint (24 inch pizza) then second lunch at Italian place. The we had dinner reservation at Breckenridge Brewery. Lot's of Brewery's and lots of good beers. The other nights we just ate in and on my night to cook I made my Zombie Burgers which is always a big hit.

Next year they are planning to go to Keystone so who knows, maybe that will be in the cards for us. Although my wife did not fair well I think she wants to try it again.

Doc, I will say that I totally get where you are coming from with the feeling out of control. Day one was a bit on the miserable survival mode side of things. By the end I was actually enjoying.