Sunday River

Sunday River is the biggest ski resort in New England. It has over 50 trails covering 7 mountains and 6 ridges.

We went there skiing and snowboarding for 2 days. On the first day, I took a snowboarding lesson in the morning and got on the hill on my own in the afternoon. But I couldn't managed it and hit my butt quite badly.

So I got back on the skis on the second day and took a short skill improvement lesson. The instructor is probably in his late 50's and has over 35 years of teaching experience. He brought Shamik and I up the hill and showed us what and how to ski in the right form in a few runs down the hill.

After that skiing lesson, I could ski in a controlled manner and started enjoying it. I was not even tired after skiing for the whole day.

But that was not the end. The journey back home was a lot more adventurous than skiing/snowboarding. We were hit head on by freezing rain, which froze on the ground and the windshield in 2 seconds. I had to drive in the 3rd gear all the time and use engine brake to stay in control. We even needed to stop twice to scrap the ice from the windshield. That turned 1 hour's drive through the local streets into almost 2 hours. It almost killed me mentally. I passed the driving seat onto Shamik soon after we got on the highway where the driving condition was a lot better.

We went home safe and sound after four and a half hours.

Surprisingly, the most impressive encounter of the whole trip was a few unintended words came out from the skiing instructor. I was skiing from behind him and he suddenly said to me, "Go on, son." Maybe he is like all affectionate American old men who always address young men "son", but it touched my heart like a father who is encouraging his son to explore the best of his potential and standing by his side when he needs him.