I've spent too much time at work lately. Just want to get away on my own. My colleague was selling a couple of half price ski tickets for Ragged Mountain. It is only 2 hours away. I snatched them without thinking too much. I didn't even bother to get someone to go with me and I spent a quiet day on the snow.
It turned out they have a very scenic green trail. I had 3 runs on it.
The resort closes after next weekend. Perhaps I will go again and use the other ski ticket.
Today is our company's ski trip. This year we went to Sunday River in Maine, about 3 hours from us. This is my 4th time here and I went there with Sue just a couple of months ago. But this time I had an ambitious plan. Sunday River has green trails running down from two of its summits, and I wanted to take as many of them as possible.
So in the morning I took almost all the green and blue trails steaming out from Lift 2 as a warm up. Lift 2 is the most used left in Sunday River because it is located right outside the rental center and cafeteria. In the afternoon, I went up to the top of Spruce peak and then Jordan Bowl with a bunch of friends and came down along the greens. The mountains here in New England is no comparison with those in the Alps, but on the top of the mountains the view is awesome. The trails are easy and you can finally spend more time skiing than riding on the lift. The weather was perfect. Sunny, no clouds, not too cold, around -10degC. Just cold enough so that I didn't sweat. I only hope there could have been a thicker layer of new snow.
The lifts close at 4 pm. Only 20 minutes before that I found an awesome green trail that I missed in the morning. It is a branch half-way down from Left 2. The trail, called Spectator, runs right underneath Lift 2. It is very narrow, with the lift poles in the middle and flanked by trees. The slope itself is not steep but you can still go pretty fast. With the tight space I needed to shift my balance every another second to control my speed. With the lift running above your head it just feels so exciting. I managed to get on the lift before it closed and took another run down the Spectator. Awesome!
I could have stayed over the weekend and ski Saturday and Sunday, butI figured I should take it easy and not to disappoint my squash buddy on Monday. So I just skied for the day and I will get some rest over the weekend.
P.S. It was my 5th ski and the first time not falling even once. I am feeling more comfortable to bring my camera and take more pictures on my next ski trip.
It is snowing again. It started some time during the night. Now it is almost 3 inches deep.
Although there is plenty of snow this winter, the temperature would raise between snows such that even 14 inches deep of snow had all melted before today's snow. But back up in Maine where the temperature is always below freezing, the ski resorts are packed with a good layer of new snow almost every week. I skied there once this season, and I am looking forward to the ski trip in February.
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.
I have ski only twice. The first time was in Jan 2005.
I went to Sunday River Skiing Resort, Maine, with a bunch of friends. They were all good skiers and snowboarders.
Remus and Helen brought me up to the top of one of the green trail without giving me any instruction on the ground. They did show me how to ski on the way down, and I literally rolled down the hill... I kept falling onto the snow every 10-20 feet.
After 2 more ski/roll down the green trail, I decided to do some basic practice on the learner's slope. I looked at the instructor who was teaching a bunch of 4-6 years-old children. After an hour of practice, I started to have better control on my move.
After lunch, I went up the green trail again. I managed to fall only once or twice on the way down. Even Remus and Helen said I learned fast.
I can tell people that I learned ski in 3 hours. I am quite proud of it.
SUNDAY RIVER SKIING RESORT, ME, Jan 22, 2005.
