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January 31, 2005

Who Says Black Folks Don't Ski?

Last weekend I went skiing for the first time.

My friend Karyn's ridiculously amazing husband organized a ski weekend surprise birthday party for Karyn, complete with 20 of her closest friends and an 80's theme. And lots of good food and booze. And a 6 bedroom house in the mountains. Chad is my hero!

I have to be honest with the fact that I had some trouble getting over the fact that I was going to spend almost $300 to TRY a sport for the first time. A sport that takes place in the cold and the wet (two things that really annoy me). A sport that people get hurt doing. A sport all about leg strength, and we all know how happy my knees and right ankle are. At first I decided not to go skiing. I'd read a book in the lounge and look cute by the fire, sipping a hot spiked drink. Then, once I spoke it aloud, I realized that that was lame. That I'd make fun of me. To fly all the way out to CO, drive an hour and a half. To be at Breckenridge and NOT ski. I'd be lame.

So I did some research on the web, made a list of what I'd need, and headed to REI. Now, b/c I know that I despise the cold and the wet, I knew that skimping on the equipment was not really a choice. So I picked out my stuff, and $250 later, I checked out, still not fully over that I was checking out. I packed everything with the tags still on, b/c I'd be damned if for some reason we didn't get to ski.

We arrived Friday night, just in time for a throw down dance party. Chad in a worm contest. Saturday, we got up bright and early (not really), and it hit me. I was over it, I was ready to ski! We drove to Vail, rented our stuff, and hit the slopes. Or the hills. Karyn and Chad were gracious enough to stay with the beginners all day and give us lessons. The first hill we tried was literally a kiddie hill. Like, there were 5 year olds everywhere, whipping past us. You would ride this little "magic carpet" conveyer belt up to the top of the hill - like the people mover at the airport. We later graduated to the adult beginner hill, and that's when I realized that I had a "slow" problem. I could stop once I got to the bottom of the hill, but while I was on the hill, I couldn't take it slow. I'd start out with the group and then just go flying down the hill. FLYing. By the end of the day I got the hang of it. All in all, I was extremely glad that I got over myself and hit the slopes.

Saturday a group cooked up an amazing dinner, and we had cake and ice cream for Karyn's bday. Sunday some of the group skied, and some of the group shopped Breckenridge. I managed not to buy a single thing. We were all so beat, and the group was down to 7, so we went to a great italian place in downtown Frisco, and called it a night. Great idea considering Chad and Emily and I had to get up at 3:30am to head back to Denver - he for work and Em and I to catch our plane. It just so happened that there was a snowstorm overnight. Props to Em for driving, it was probably the most terrifying car/weather experience of my life. Descending a mountain in a snowstorm before the plows have come out with tons of semis at 4:30am. Thank god we made it safely.

We made out plane and I was at work by noon. Whoosh!

Photos of the entire weekend.

Posted by nikl at January 31, 2005 05:11 PM

Comments

You need to get to the National Brotherhood of Skiers Summit! It was just last week (Feb 5-12), and there were about 1,500 Black folks on the slopes! The site is http://www.nbs.org

I had a blast from Saturday, 2/5, thru Wednesday, 2/9.

Posted by: Joel Johnson at February 16, 2005 10:33 AM

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