I Like to Ski!

I have always told Dereck that I hate to ski and happily sent him off to the slopes with his friends. However, I decided for once in my life to be a bit spontaneous. Dereck got 2 free lift tickets from his boss at work for Deer Valley (which are normally $80 each) and he asked me if I would go skiing with him the next day. 

My mom even offered to watch the girls overnight so we could spend the night in Park City (Thanks, Mom!). So I figured I should give it a try for Dereck's sake. The last time I had skied was with college roommates in Logan (folks, that's been over 12 years now). I knew how much Dereck loves it and I really want to have shared interests and hobbies. 

We spent the night near the resort so we could hit the slopes early. We started out on the bunny hills with the 2 and 3 year olds, who were much better skilled than I. I asked Dereck on the chair lift up for some tips and he gave me the disclaimer about how he is not a ski teacher and if I wanted a teacher I better pay for a lesson. So, I was on my own. I started out slowly and yelled at Dereck half the way down about how he needed to tell me how to turn, how to stop, etc. I was a wreck and I was ready to go have some hot chocolate in the lodge so Dereck could enjoy himself on the black diamonds. 

However, like a good husband he stayed by my side. By about my third time down this littlest bunny hill I was feeling pretty confident and excited. We decided to take a different chair lift even. As I came to the bottom of the hill I yelled, "Dereck, I did it!" And then proceeded to straddle the line divider at the chair lift. I was doing the backwards splits and laughing way too hard to do anything about it, so Dereck and the chair lift operator each grabbed an arm and pulled me up.

That was not the only stupid thing I did. I got a little more confident and we went to the very top of the mountain (to do the very easiest green route down). On a slight hill I lost control and crashed right in front of a 4-year-old. She kindly glided over to my lost ski and brought it to me. What a humbling experience!

By the end of the day I was really loving it. It was beautiful. It was sunny and warm. I was breathing fresh mountain air! I was very content to stay on the greens and Dereck was probably itching to go on the blacks so I don't know how much we will actually be able to ski together, but it was a great time! We want to get the girls in ski lessons and make it a fun family activity.