It finally happened!! I gave up a day of snowboarding for skiing!!! You have NO idea how monumental that really is. I've been snowboarding since before all the resorts in America allowed it! In 1989, I was going to college in Colorado and I think I brought three pairs of skis with me- 2 pairs of Fischers and a pair of Pre skis- one pair wasn't even drilled yet! I went skiing once, but wasn't really feeling too thrilled about it. A girl in my dorm was selling her old snowboard to fund her new board. She offered me free lessons. How could I resist? I remember how much I hated wearing those old Salomon SX91 Equipe ski boots! They were sooo tight and hurt so much! The appeal of snowboarding was that I could wear regular Sorel snow boots! Plus walking in them would be so much easier too! A bunch of us piled into my Audi 4000 and off to Copper Mountain we went! I mastered being a beginner in one day! This was a match made in Heaven. And so I continued to snowboard until now.
But over the last few years, I have been telling friends on the down-low that if I ever got 10 days of snowboarding in a season, I would be tempted to rent a pair of skis to check out what the new technology had to offer. Literally as soon as I started my snowboarding era, huge developments in skis were happening! They were getting shorter, fatter and easier to ski! And the boots were advancing too- more performance with more comfort! So last year, after lots of research, I bought some brand new ski gear!
I decided on getting the Salomon QST 92 skis. They seemed like a true all-mountain ski that would fit the bill. I paired them with Marker Squire 11 ID bindings. As for boots, I bought Dalbello DS 100 boots. They were not the Grip Walk model, so I bought GW soles online and fitted them myself. I installed new footbeds and they fit like a dream! Stiff enough for my weight and skiing style, I haven't been skiing in ages, so they should do just fine. For poles, I got some Kermit green Scott Punisher ski poles. So I bought all this gear last ski season, got them all mounted up, tuned and waxed. I was all ready to go and give them a go, and then Covid happened and literally shut down all the ski resorts the day before I was supposed to go! So they sat around my garage for the past nine months waiting for their day. Well, today was the day!!
I bought another Epic (Vail resorts) season ski pass this year. They gave me a pretty generous compensation since last year went south. Vail resorts are in pre-season until December 8, then they are open to the general public, but until then, only pass holders can ski at their resorts. So I couldn't bring any friends along. I ended up doing a day ski trip (up and back in the same day). I got about 6 hours of sleep, then left early. I was in the Northstar Ski Resort parking lot by 8:30a!! I really didn't have much expectations for the day- first day out for the season, first day on skis in DECADES, new unfamiliar equipment, skiing alone, driving both ways alone in the same day. I figured I would just take it easy, getting to know my new gear, getting reacquainted with the sport of skiing, plus I didn't want to blow out my legs and get hurt. My season pass scanned okay, as the system found my reservations and I was on the gondola before 9:00a! That never happens!!
Being so early in the season, Northstar only had 3 lifts running, besides the main gondola- Arrow Express, Comstock Express and Vista Express. I immediately hit Arrow, the Comstock to the top. Probably not the smartest thing to do, because only blue runs come off the top. So I started picking my way down Westridge.I think I took Axe Handle to get back to the greens. Skis felt so foreign. I had to remember how to snow plow! When I got to the bottom, I just started taking Arrow to Lumberjack and Lower Main until I got my ski legs back. It really didn't take too long. I noticed that I was on my tails a bit too much, but after lunch things improved. I quickly graduated from sliding to carving. By the end of the day, I had progressed back to near parallel skiing, switching from edge to edge carving some S-turns! Near the end of the day, I started taking Vista Express, since the lines were getting too long on the other lifts.
So my first day back was very encouraging. I didn't crash (into anyone or anything), my legs didn't die and I was able to regain some of my old ski skills! Of course I'll actually have to relearn how to ski, since skiing these fat skis are a little different altogether. The skis felt great! They're light and snappy. If I pressed on them and loaded them up, they could take it. The boots were actually incredible! They were never uncomfortable, they held me tight and they didn't hurt my shins! My toes never got wet or cold! So far, I'm very happy with my equipment!
It was a fun day skiing. The skies were blue and the snow was pretty good. On all the runs I did, I never saw any exposed rocks, dirt or trees. The day started off about 30 degrees, but quickly got warmer, probably about mid-40's. But the snow wasn't icy, nor was it slushy! My skis weren't waxed correctly for this type of snow, but I didn't really even notice, plus a faster ski probably isn't what I need at this point. I cut out a little early while my legs were still good- I hadn't yet crashed, so I figured I would leave on a high note. Plus I had all that Thanksgiving traffic to contend with!!
No comments:
Post a Comment