Back on skis, 2008 edition

This season I’ve taken the cross-country skis out a few times, to a neighborhood park and the playground of a nearby school. The sensation of gliding on the skis is quite different from that gained by sliding on a board. I made just enough very small turns along the way to remember that making turns on skis is different, too. So how, I wondered, would I do back on downhill skis?

We’re coming near the end of the season here in the Midwest, and I’ve felt the need to mix things up a bit. Call it the Colorado comedown. In February I took my board out to mountains with a vertical drop of 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Now that I’m back home my terrain has 300 vertical feet and I’m looking for a way to make it look more interesting. Oddly enough the desire to spice things up is one reason I started snowboarding a few years ago. So maybe it was time to complete the circle and try a little downhill ski action.

One powerful way to learn anything is to make comparisons. Maybe it was time to advance my snowboarding knowledge by putting in some time on skis. Compare and contrast, you know.

So I pulled the ski boot bag off the shelf in the basement, where it has remained untouched since February, 2005. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily I could put on my ski boots, and I wore them about the house for an hour or so.

A few days later I decided it was time to bring the skis out of the office closet, where they’ve been standing, unused.

When the appointed day came, I gathered my stuff. Getting everything out to the car was a bit of a struggle. Skis are heavier than any snowboard, and the boots are heavier, too. Then you’ve got poles to deal with, too, leading to some clutter in the hands.

But I got everything into the car just fine and drove to a local hill. Once there, I was able to get my boots on without any trouble, step into the bindings, and start skiing.

So what was it like?

The experience was both more pleasant and a bit more awkward than I had anticipated. It was more pleasant in this way: I had no foot pain, much unlike the last time I was on skis. Then again, the last time was on 2-mile runs out west, not the 45-seconds-and-you’re-done trips we have here. So there would probably be some adjustment for my feet–a toughening-up time–if I spent a lot of time on skis again.

I started out on the bunny hill, since I wanted plenty of room to play with the skis before diving into something steeper. Getting on to and off of the chair lift was no problem. But once I started heading down the hill, uncertainty crept in.

How do I turn? I’m doing the splits! One foot is turning this way, but my other foot wants to go another!

When skiers start snowboarding, they sometimes feel uncomfortable with the fact that the feet don’t move independently of each other. Now I was feeling uncomfortable with the fact that on skis, they can.

It didn’t take long, though, for me to start moving my feet into something resembling parallel turns. I’m sure that my form wasn’t ideal, and I slowed down more than I wanted to. But I was skiing, and even started making some short-radius turns.

There are still more conclusions to draw from the day, but here’s one immediate one: Each season I should spend a day or two back on skis. I don’t want to relive those first awkward runs. Besides, “compare and contrast” isn’t just for college and graduate school exams; it’s a way to learn and appreciate the different qualities of all that is good.