Went skiing again the other day.  It was the first time since 2009 when I took a nasty spill and wrenched my knee.  There were no major injuries – at least not that didn’t heal, but even childbirth isn’t as painful as a knee that swells up to twice its normal size.  I may have mentioned before that I learned to ski on the Adirondacks of New York, and after two treks down the bunny hill my boyfriend got disgusted and I rode to the top of the mountain where they waved goodbye and said they’d see me at the bar.  In other words, I’ve never had a lesson.

Over the years I picked up tips here and there and because I don’t like to fall, I am generally very conservative and enjoy going back and forth, back and forth.  What happened in 2009 was that the icy slopes of the morning, which are easy for me since I learned to ski in the east, turned into slushy slopes in the afternoon, which are not so easy for me.  The snow was just soft enough that I felt confident going a little faster.  Then I hit some real slush.  Any skier can tell you that what happens next is your skis stop dead and your body keeps going, a classic physics lesson in momentum if there ever was one.  Al said he literally watched me going head over heels that day.  It was the last run of the day, obviously, and I managed to ski down – lightly on my left leg – and by the time we got home I was in agony.  An xray the next day was negative and my visit to a fellow physical therapist revealed my knee was still stable – therefore no ligament tears or anything.

I have spend the last year getting my knee in better shape – yoga and strength training.  The first thing I noticed was how much easier it is to get up off the lift.  When you approach the exit point, the lift chair is practically on the ground – you sort of wait for it to lift you up a little more but at some point you have to stand up without using your hands, or you just push the chair seat back down with you on it.  All this on a slippery surface.  All skiers hate this part and when I figure out a better way, I will quit my day job.

Nevertheless, I was dismayed to discover that I was terrified to ski down on an intermediate slope, which has been my venue for some 30 years of on again-off again skiing.  I skied for an hour and was nearly in tears.  I didn’t feel in control.  It’s not that anything was really different, except that now I understood first hand how being not fully in control, if not totally out of control, could have devastating consequences on my body.

Truly discouraged on the beautiful, sunny, 35 degree Tahoe mountain day, I took off my skis and decided to gondola back to base.  Only the gondola doesn’t go back to base, it goes to a parking garage, so I gondola’ed back to where I was mid mountain, put my skis back on and made my way down the hill once again.  When I got down there I was delighted to realize that I could take a free ski lesson – midweek at Sugar Bowl, the ticket included rental and free lessons!  I knew I would need a lesson if I was ever to feel confident again.

I am not one to give up.  The senior discount for skiers starts at 70 and if there is a God who made mountains, I will be skiing when I’m 70. The afternoon lesson started at 1:30, so I went back to the car, ate lunch, slept in the sun like an old dog, and waited for the lesson to start.

Miracles happen.  The young men who are young enough to be my sons were polite and encouraging, and assured me that by the end of the hour I would feel good about skiing again, that my fear was normal and they had seen it all before (How could they? They were babies!)  As it turned out it was a semi-private lesson rather than a group lesson because only one other woman was at my level  Alex called us “strong skiers, who needed some tips.”  I liked that assessment.

The next hour was the best hour I’ve ever had skiing.  I learned how to complete my turns and turn uphill when I felt out of control.  Turning has never been a problem for me – that’s the problem!  I could go back and forth like an Olympian slalom skier with only one disadvantage – I didn’t know how to stop on command.  I do now.   I also learned how to “skate” to the lift line, instead of dragging myself along like a zombie on skis, my arms planting the poles and taking one step forward, two steps back, exhausted by the time I got to the lift.

Everything was going well until a middle aged snowboarder zigged when he should have zagged and, although I saw him out of the corner of my eye, I zagged when I should have  zigged, and we defied the laws of physics by trying to occupy the same place at the same time.  There went my knee.  It was not so bad this time, it’s muscular in nature, of that I’m sure, and I also wear a helmet now, so when my head hit the snow I was pleased that the extra $10 bucks for the rental had not been wasted.  By 1:30 p.m. it was just above 40 degrees and it was hot wearing that helmet, I had almost decided not to wear it for the afternoon. So I also learned how to get up from a fall, which had always been torture for me.  It’s a real “duh” moment – you take off one of your skis and stand up on the ski-less boot.  It’s amazing was a lesson can do!

I was in mild discomfort so decided to call it a day, but my fear of the morning had thankfully dissipated, and I look forward to carrying out my game plan: a) I will purchase my own boots for better fit and ergo better control. b) I will take another lesson.  c) I have an appointment with a sports ortho doctor who will help me decide upon the proper brace to wear for skiing.  d) I will ski until I qualify for the senior discount!  To infinity – and beyond!