Hi Dorian,

Have I ever told you that I had wanted to go skiing for a 
long time?  I finally went yesterday.  Through her work,
an old friend got hold of two seats on a bus to Big Bear 
with free lift tickets, since her boss was busy, I was 
invited as a fill in.

The trip was organized by an advertising company in LA
You know those billboards you often see on freeways and 
sides of buildings?  Well, they are responsible for some 
of them.  Every so often, the company gives out free 
tickets for clients.  My friend works in Saturn of 
Alhambra, so naturally a customer of the company and got 
the tickets this time.

There were 50 seats in the bus filled with young fun 
people.  Drinking and telling jokes all the way till we 
got to Big Bear -- a three hours journey.

The skiing part was also fun, it was everything I expected 
it to be, times 2, plus more.

The first hour was difficult since I could not even stand 
up and stay still in the snow with the skies, much less 
walk or move.  Good thing that my friend was giving me the 
proper instructions.  Finally got through that part, took 
a lift to a short run and had a few "controlled" falls -- 
because I went too fast.  My friend decided to let me 
practice so she could get some food in her stomach.   
I was totally out of shape, having roller skated before 
helped a lot as I learned to ski and turn relatively 
quickly -- or so I though...

Made a second run and picked it up quickly.  Took a 
different run, went down a long sloppy course and tripped 
my way through the steep part.  Funny thing about skiing 
down slope is that it is more exhausting to ski slowly 
than at higher speed, because one has to control it with
strength constantly.  I learned that fact when I was 
getting tired on a steeper slope.

There were two falls that I remembered vividly, one was a 
fall that I took to avoid running someone over.  I was flat 
on my face with both legs turned inwards completely.  The 
other was on a steep slope when I was turning away from a 
tree off to the side -- I swear that it was running towards me 
at high velocity!  A sharp turn was made to stay on the 
snow in time, but law of physics was still at work -- 
against me completely.  My momentum was at an angle with 
the new direction that I was going and gravity took over 
as my feet started making its run -- away from the body.
"Timber" was the result...

In that one fall, I was all tangled up.  Imagine this:

1) I laid flat on my back with
2) The left ski pole underneath me
3) The other pole was under one of my legs so the handle 
was trapped between my legs
4) Both my hands were tided up because they were bound 
with the poles and
5) I couldn't even remove those thick bulky gloves
6) The right leg that trapped the ski pole was in a side 
way bicycling position because it was fixed to
7) Its ski which was laying flat on its side, buried in 
snow.
8) That ski was in turn trapped under the left ski and its 
leg.  Yeap, "its" leg cause it didn't feel like mine at all...
9) The left leg was closed with the knee pointing straight 
up to the sky -- a very beautiful blue sky I must say.
10) While in that position, I slid for a few more feet, 
down slope, head first...

When I was convinced that I was fully stopped and wasn't 
hurt, I tried to sit up but couldn't, the rigid arms 
were locked or pinned by the associated ski poles. It was 
a bad move and the pain send me right back to the snow.  
"Nope, your arms aren't that flexible," I said to myself 
while sliding still further down.  It was so stupid yet it 
was funny --- now that I think about it.  The next 5 minutes 
were spent resting on the ground trying to figure out what 
exactly was going on.  That's why I am able to tell you how
I was configured.  Other people were skiing or snow-boarding 
by me, I didn't see any of their expressions but I didn't 
have to, but it wasn't my main concern at that moment.

At the end, I wriggled by right hand free, undid my left ski,
which freed the left leg, then left arm and hand as I was able
to sit up and pulled the ski pole from under my body.  Finally,
up on my feet in a more dignify position, I immediately began 
to understand a few things:

1) Slow down Joe
2) My back side was wet
3) Nothing was broken, and 
4) How beautiful standing right up could be.

Looking down a white snowy slope with pines trees on the sides.
The sun was out, shining brightly and being reflected by the
white snow.  Fresh cool air was blown in my face and most 
importantly being out of one messed up predicament.

I meet up with my friend again when I got to the bottom of the 
run.  She just came back from lunch.  We made two perfect runs 
on each of the courses -- at reduced speed -- before turning 
in the equipment for the day.

We were all exhausted when we got back on the bus with new 
stories, pizzas and sodas, while some continued with their
"Tequlla".  I think the bus driver was a little drunk because 
he forgot to down shift going down the mountains, so the 
breaks started burning up and we stopped to wait for those to 
cool down.  Traffic was a little better and we made the home 
trip in 3 hours again.  Enough time to finish the "Rush Hour"
video.

It was one of the near perfect days in my life.  Got a chance 
to do something I longed for and enjoyed every single part of 
it.  Yes, including all those falls, especially the really 
messed up one I described.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.

Hi Joe
I am laughing so hard.  You should have heard me reading this to Murray and laughing all the way through your narrative just a minute or so ago.  I know we have crazy hours around here.  Usually up all night.  I just put randomized music on my contents page! Yeah I am learning.

Yep I have been there, done that and am going to do it again!!!  I can ski no better than you, but it sure is fun.  Thrilling fun.  It is a wonder that I have not killed myself, skiing out of control because I do not have the strength to be in control.  I think that since you took the time to share your wonderful experience with me that I will feature it on my ski page because I have been too lazy to write about my own crashes and near death experiences.  Oh I am so happy that you had such a wonderful time.  Now go and do it again!  Dorian