Learned How to Ski

Last Sunday, me, Ernest, Mr. Harada and his son, went to ski in Prince Hotel Ski Center in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture. We set off as early as 630 in the morning from our place in Hanyu. I was actually a bit scared with mixed feelings of excited and worry that I might get injured in this 2nd skiing trip of ours. My first skiing trip was still in Nagano, but since we did not have a good instructor then, I still wasn't able to ride the ski or even walk on it. Luckily our good friend from the city hall, Mr. Harada taught us how to ski, just like little kids do here. Hahaha...

Along the way, upon reaching the vicinity of Karuizawa, we rented skis that mushroomed beside the highway. The ski rent was only 2,000 yen for the whole day. The ski entrance was also about 2,000 yen (discounted), a bit cheap because Mr. Harada brought some discount coupons from his previous ski trip in other Prince Hotel resorts.

I was really nervous. Totally scared since I don't have any insurance on the first place. And given the fact that if I was injured, my trip to Hiroshima this end of the month would be in total peril. And may also cause my job. Anyway, thank God everything went smooth as expected.

First thing to do before skiing is to do some sort of stretching for five or so minutes. Try to flex especially your ankles and knees since those are the most vulnerable parts of your body when maneuvering the skis. We first wore the right side of the ski and practiced walking for about 10 minutes. Then, removing it, and wearing again the left side, and then another 10-minute walk. Then the reality, wearing both. We were always told the hachi position (八) of our skis, as this position will prevent you from further sliding and could take some control over your ground.

Then we went on foot and changed location to a more challenging yet easy slope. Then the slide of my life. It took me endless fall to finally able to master how to balance. In the middle of the skiing session, I lost my confidence and I somehow got tired and a bit scared. Furthermore, I was hungry, so it was a mixed feeling. But I managed anyhow.

We took lunch. Afterwhich, rode on the ski lift. Scary. I tried the Mt. Takao lift last autumn and it felt like having a vertical horizon. The difficult part was getting off on the ski lift since you have to go further. Thus, I collided with another female cute snowboarder. Hahaha. Actually, a bit embarrassing. Well, I carried on and finally had my balance. And eventually lost my fear.

The picture above is a classic example of a newbie skier. Legs are in the awkward hachi (八) position. The rear is a 45 degree slope of around 500 meters downward. So I was really careful when this picture was taken as the area on my left side, which is a few meters, is another 30 degree 100-meter slope. The snow-capped mountain on the back draft is Mount Asama, which is still emitting smoke since it had a small eruption in the past months.

This picture was taken on the parking lot outside of the ski resort.

Me, Ryo Harada, Mr. Harada's son, and Ernest, fellow Hanyu ALT.

I can't wait for our next skiing trip. My 2nd winter season in Japan has been very memorable since I was able to accomplish another task which many tropical-dwelling people find it hard to do, and that is skiing on a snowy mountain. Or perhaps, I might try snowboarding next time. Nah, I should master skiing first. :-D