Yesterday at lunch a friend announced the ski season is here and wouldn’t it be fun to go play in the snow at Steven Pass today… In the style of my mother, it was more of a statement than a question.
I’ve tried it a few times; a few years ago at a particularly good result at a rally in Canada I won a snowboard, boots, bindings and so on from Burton. To the more “snow proficient” it would be a really nice prize and is about the biggest thing I’ve ever won from the inside of a rally car and a nice change from the usual plastic trophy. A reflection on both my ability and the level of prize giving at rallies.
Many years ago (’93 I think), I was lucky enough to spend a Christmas in Switzerland and on Boxing Day left Locarno to go to San Moritz. My first (and to date only) experience of staying in a proper ski resort, and I was starting with a big one.
Prior to actual first contact with the slopes I actually took this whole skiing thing rather seriously at the time and had taken a series of skiing lessons on the upturned toothbrushes of a dry ski slope in Guildford after my race season was over. The dry ski slope was actually at my old secondary school, I’d skied a couple of times them during PE lessons when I was 12 or 13, but it was never really much more than falling down with no grace, but shed loads of style!
The lack of grace had not changed, and the falling over part never got old, but I got to the point where I could stand up and actually make it down the nursery slope. A long way from competent, but hopefully not actively dangerous to those around me.
Than we got to San Moritz, this is many, many magnitudes bigger than any ski slope I’ve ever seen. I’m going to humiliate myself, and I’m going to do it with many, many other people watching.
I remember my first time off the ski lift. I hit the bunny slope, and then I got up and tried again. That getting up and trying again part was one of my mistakes that morning.
Once I’d got the whole staying upright thing sorted, off I headed down the easy slope. I’d guess it was probably about 105 miles per hour, being a biker I tried to slow down by doing what comes naturally to me, shifting my weight back.
You don’t lean back on skis, that’s a bad idea and I discovered two things happen. First, you pick up more speed, then you loose all steering. It’s not going to end well at that point. I can still remember the laughing as I pulled myself out of the snow bank with snow down my neck and packed into my ears.
I tried, I really did, but discovered over this few days that skiing was not for me, but I’m happy to have provided Lili and many others lots of entertainment.
So, to answer the opening statement, no it would not be fun to go skiing at Steven Pass this weekend.
San Moritz was a lot of fun. It’s a beautiful part place with a lot going on. Horse drawn sleighs to restaurants high in the hills, roads closed in the evening so hundreds of people can sled to the next village down the hill, watching bobsleighs on the Cresta run and taking a few days before the race pre-season started the following week. It was a good time, thanks.
2 Comments
San Moritz is beautiful, I’ve not been skiing there but have sailed on the lake and hiked in the hilld during the summer.
Your loss mate, no one hurt themselves and the peppermint schnapps laced coffee was wonderful.