Last Ski

We celebrated spring and Easter by cross country skiing with friends today. It seemed strange to load the car with skis and poles decked out in snow pants, mittens and coats while the sun was shining and kids down the street were looking for Easter eggs in their yard. But the mountain got four inches of snow yesterday and unless the weather predictions are wrong and it really doesn't get as warm as they say it will, this was probably our last ski of the season.

The first thing Dean did was to try and practice telemarking. He fell on the first attempt at a turn but after that he seemed to actually remember how to do it and almost looked like he knew what he was doing. I tried once, fell and gave up. I was never any good at it anyway and crashing and burning muliple times today was not part of my plan. I made it the whole season without falling until today. The sad thing is I also fell at the very end of the day. I was daydreaming or staring off the trail or who knows what and next thing you know I'd screwed up and pointed my skis off the trail into a pile of snow and went down. Our friend's fiance has only skiied twice before today and he managed to get through to the end staying upright. I was frantically trying to get myself up before he got down the hill but I couldn't manage it. I think the smile on his face when he saw me on the ground had very little to do with how much he was enjoying his time on the trail. The hot cocoa and raspberry scone in the lodge was a perfect ending to an awesome day.

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Last Ski