On Wednesday we went out with a Chinese girl who had been staying in the Inn and trying to learn to ski. It was a beautiful day, and we went up to Peak 8, where she had never been before. She wanted to find somewhere steeper than the beginners slopes on Peak 9. We took a slow chairlift up to a green slope, but she felt it was a bit steep for her; we went down to a beginner's slope where she was able to practise and we were able to ski the steeper slopes.
We are about to ski down to the left of this picture. The beginners' slope is straight ahead. The snow was very nice and I was able to ski quite well and quite fast. We returned to this point several times to check on our Chinese friend, and on one occasion persuaded a man who had brought his wife, a woman who had never had a pair of skis on in her life, to try the beginners' slope as well. The slope on the left was far too steep for a complete beginner. It is amazing that people think they can put on a pair of skis and just do it. I suppose there are a small minority of people who find it easy to learn - naturally athletic people who have strong sporting ability, good balance and no fear - but most of us have to start on beginners' slopes and take some lessons.
We came down when our Chinese friend got tired, and as it was still early, we changed our huge heavy boots and our helmets for walking boots and wooly hats and went down to the supermarket again. As it was early in the day, we were able to get the 5 pm bus back.
On Thursday, I had another lesson - on Peak 8 this time. Paul says I need to move in to Level 5 lessons, but I really do prefer to be on the easier slopes. He felt I didn't get any teaching in the lesson, because I am already skiing mostly parallel, and the rest of the class weren't. But I am reluctant to be on much steeper slopes. There was another woman in the class who was 80. She too could ski better than the rest, but didn't want to be on the steeper slopes in case of accidents.
On the way to the lesson, I took pictures of the terrain park.
This is the best picture of the humps people use for jumping. My camera just wasn't fast enough to catch them jumping, though there were quite a few, both on skis and on boards. Some just jump, while other jump and twist or somersault when in the air. The terrain park has other features too.
This shows a rail that people can jump up and ski along. In another part, there's a flight of stairs with railings. The park was quite busy, with it's being such a lovely day.
I also took some pictures of the much higher slopes where Paul likes to ski.
That triangular peak at the centre of my picture is where he likes to go. The slope at the bottom of the picture is where I prefer!
Once my left knee had started to protest about the wear and tear, I knew it was time to stop. I managed to get some pictures of the Terrain Park and the Half Pipe on the way down in the Gondola, though they aren't good pictures because of the reflections.
This one shows the two Terrain Parks and you can just see the Half Pipe in the background, between the trees.
This is a clearer picture of the Half Pipe.
Again, you can see all the reflections, and this is taken from more than a mile away, with a lot of digital zoom, so it isn't all that clear. One day when I'm not skiing, I need to see if I can get up the hill to the Half Pipe and take some better pictures.
Paul was able to spend the last part of the afternoon skiing on his own, and had a much better time than following my class.
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