Norway28262 Posts
Oh man, just came home from Zakopane in Poland a couple days ago, where I did alpine skiing which basically was for the first time. I mean, I tried going down a slope once with slalom skis about 20 years ago, but other than that I've never worn them. Then I am very familiar with cross country skis (which are significantly longer and thinner), so I'm totally comfortable with the whole balancing aspect. At first, I was surprised by how easy it was, getting pretty cocky about my success, but I was totally humbled later haha.
Did it 4 different times in three different slopes, about two hours for each of the places. First day went to some huge place everyone were going to, with like 5 different ski lifts next to each other, but this was also a place suited for rookies - it was my first time so I thought that was appropriate, and wife was there and it certainly was for her. Anyway, my experience is basically a delightful surprise with how easy I feel it is, compared to cross country skiing the control you have is otherwordly, but eventually I'm also left with a "hm, that's it?" feeling, because it's just going up and down the same hills, no real challenge, just try to achieve as high speed as I can while swerving around the total newbs who are going down all slow and carefully. Lotta fun though.
Second day we go up on some small mountain, they have one slope with some jumps and rails next to it, mostly for snowboarders but some amazing skiers are also there. While in the ski rental, it's mentioned that this place is not for new skiers, and sure enough, it's quite a bit steeper than the first place. Still though, I'm totally comfortable, and feel like I'm improving at a great speed. I can see on my right side that there are people way beyond my league, because they're doing 360 jumps and skiing backwards and doing all kinds of funky stuff, but as far as just making rapid turns and having control going down a slope, I feel pretty awesome.
Then the third day, we're made aware of this gondola lift taking us from 1000 meters above sea level to this mountain at 2k, and that it's possible to ski all the way down. Getting up there, I also learn that there's another slope there, like you can take one shorter one and a ski lift back up to the mountaintop a couple times before you make the final run all the way down. I'm totally excited, sounds crazy fun. My wife ends up talking to some Polish guys she meets in the gondola lift, one of them says he's been skiing since he was 3 years old (now in his 30s), guys look pretty serious..
Then we leave the lift, go outside, and one thing that's clear to me is that there are actually very few skiers there. like 95%+ of people who are there are just walking around enjoying the view. Then I see the slope I'm supposed to head down - and it's like, what the fuck. It's soooo steep. Then I see my wife's newly acquired friends, they just go right at it, and once again, what the fuck.. they're going soooo fast..
Then I get to the actual top of the slope myself, already having put on my skis. And while it looked steep earlier, now it is just plain intimidating. At the same time, only the first 50 meters or so are crazy steep, after that it flattens out considerably, so it's mostly just the start I'm really worried about. I see a couple guys getting ready to go down, one of them just casually pulls off a 360 while he's going 50 mph pretty early on. Another just crouches down and doesn't make any attempt at turning or slowing down, and I'm standing there totally dumbfounded. There's like 100 people standing around watching, and I'm kind of the expected next runner. But all I can think is, there's no way in hell I can actually go down this slope. I spent probably around 3 minutes thinking about whether to pull back, or about how to tackle this hill.
Eventually I decide to try to kinda go down sideways, like ski to the left, make a turn, ski to the right, make a turn, advance a couple meters down for each turn I make. But then, first turn I try to make, at nearly no speed at all, I lose balance and topple over, resulting in me rolling around like 5 times. Totally painless and I'm just laughing while rolling because I realize how hilariously stupid I must be looking, but it's not a confidence boost. Then I get up, try again, same thing happens, although this time with less rolling. Good thing is, I've managed to get past some of the most intimidatingly steep parts, and I kinda just go, yolo, I can do this now, and just decide to sit down and enjoy the rest of the ride. So I do, but after something like 5 seconds I have accelerated to an ungodly speed - at the very least 50% faster than I've ever been going before on any type of ski, and shortly after that, I decide to make a controlled fall because I'm worried about the possible consequences of my inevitable uncontrolled fall if I am to continue going this fast.
That didn't hurt either though, and now I'm actually both out of sight for the most likely entertained onlookers, and the slope is of a more manageable kind, although still a bit too difficult for me, and I have one more fall - this one slightly painful - before I make the way down to the ski lift going up. Coming back up, I screw up trying to leave the ski lift (first time I used one of those sitting ones) and make them have to stop it for like 5 seconds, causing further entertainment. I'm just happy as hell though, feeling like what I most certainly lacked in skill I kinda made up for in bravery and happy I didn't get injured. But when my wife brings me mulled wine and asks if I'm going again, it's just like, oh hell no this is way beyond my ability. Then the two serious looking polish guys from before step by, and tell us that at some point they had measured their speed going down almost the very same slope I did (theirs were even slightly steeper but not much!), and they had reached 117 km/h (about 70 mph). For reference, actual olympic down hill skiing normally has them going around 130 km/h, the highest recorded speed in such an event is 160 km/h.
Fortunately they assure me that the other slope, the one that goes all the way down, is significantly easier, - which it was - and skiing down from 2k to 1k meter above sea level in one run was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had. But that first one, that was mostly just scary.
Fourth day, I went back to the slope from the second day, content with my mediocrity.
might have a couple pics later!!
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