I went for my first ever ski trip last Sunday. It was a day trip by bullet train to Gala Yuzawa, a slightly crowded resort in Nigiita prefecture, probably due to it having it’s own shinkansen station making for easy access. The train and ski pass was ￥13,000 and full equipment was about ￥4000, so it didn’t hurt my wallet too much. To begin with, I wasn’t sure if I would like skiing, considering I’m pretty useless when it comes to rollerblading. If my feet don’t stay where I want them to, then I’m pretty much guaranteed to find my face on the floor. So we (my Thai colleagues) spent a couple of hours down at the bottom of the slope just getting the feel for it. No lessons or instructors, just pick it up ourselves! Of course, I found myself on the ground a lot of the time but it’s fun to fall in snow.
It wasn’t the until the last hour when I eventually dared to take the ski lift up to the beginner’s course. It looked awfully steep from the bottom. Once at the top however, there was only one way to go – down. So, I just went for it. I fell a few times on my first run but I was surprised that I was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly. On one of the runs I even managed to finish at the bottom going backwards! I flukily managed that as I was trying to avoid someone else without falling myself. I don’t have any skill at all but for a first timer I was quite pleased with my balance, speed and speed control and I even started to get the feel of making controlled turns. Haven’t really got the hang of stopping when I want to yet – but the ground does a good job of that for me.
I only wish I hit the real slopes an hour sooner as I found that was the best way to pick it up. I was inspired at how these kids were able to come down the slopes with relative ease and thought to myself, “it can’t be that hard”.
