Yesterday I went up with several friends to Mount Snow in Vermont. It was my first time at the mountain.
I have to say, I didn't like it as much as Okemo, but I don't think it was necessarily a bad experience or a bad ski resort. It's just not really great for beginners like myself. There aren't many green trails, and the few I could find were absolutely packed with people. On top of that, I have never skied in "heavy" powder ("heavy" is in quotes in case any skiing purists are reading this and don't consider New England mountains' snow to be as powdery as it is out west), so I struggled mightily in the morning. I was just thrown way out of my element, and it showed. I felt bad that the lady stuck with me, as I know she gets bored following me down the easy trails. I knew I should've done way better, and felt as though I'd regressed a bit.
The afternoon was a different story. Much like my trip to Mohawk a couple days prior (which factored in negatively as well since my legs were surprisingly still tired), I did much better as the day went on. I wouldn't call it "night and day" or anything, but I ended strongly, by myself, going down a couple blue trails. The blue trails were far, far better than the greens, because they were steeper, which allowed me to build up more speed, and had far fewer skiers. In fact, the blue trails I went down at Mount Snow yesterday were the least crowded trails I've seen yet. On top of that, they were wider, and had fewer bumps.
Speaking of bumps, I hit a couple and took a couple nasty spills. One of them was actually kind of fun, because I hit a powdery mount of fluff, and it was like falling into a pillow. The other was a face plant, which wasn't quite as fun. Bumps are something I have to get used to, and the afternoon on my own (no fault at all can be attributed to the lady, as she has been exceedingly patient and helpful thus far) was relatively successful. I just need to get over the fact that, as counter-intuitive as it may seem to a beginner skier, I can't lean back to slow down going down hill.
Mostly, I'm looking forward to several days' rest before the trip to Sunday River this coming weekend. My legs could certainly use it.
I have to say, I didn't like it as much as Okemo, but I don't think it was necessarily a bad experience or a bad ski resort. It's just not really great for beginners like myself. There aren't many green trails, and the few I could find were absolutely packed with people. On top of that, I have never skied in "heavy" powder ("heavy" is in quotes in case any skiing purists are reading this and don't consider New England mountains' snow to be as powdery as it is out west), so I struggled mightily in the morning. I was just thrown way out of my element, and it showed. I felt bad that the lady stuck with me, as I know she gets bored following me down the easy trails. I knew I should've done way better, and felt as though I'd regressed a bit.
The afternoon was a different story. Much like my trip to Mohawk a couple days prior (which factored in negatively as well since my legs were surprisingly still tired), I did much better as the day went on. I wouldn't call it "night and day" or anything, but I ended strongly, by myself, going down a couple blue trails. The blue trails were far, far better than the greens, because they were steeper, which allowed me to build up more speed, and had far fewer skiers. In fact, the blue trails I went down at Mount Snow yesterday were the least crowded trails I've seen yet. On top of that, they were wider, and had fewer bumps.
Speaking of bumps, I hit a couple and took a couple nasty spills. One of them was actually kind of fun, because I hit a powdery mount of fluff, and it was like falling into a pillow. The other was a face plant, which wasn't quite as fun. Bumps are something I have to get used to, and the afternoon on my own (no fault at all can be attributed to the lady, as she has been exceedingly patient and helpful thus far) was relatively successful. I just need to get over the fact that, as counter-intuitive as it may seem to a beginner skier, I can't lean back to slow down going down hill.
Mostly, I'm looking forward to several days' rest before the trip to Sunday River this coming weekend. My legs could certainly use it.
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