Time to talk Treebeard into skiing

“Well here is my chance to go Skiing with treebeard. On our vaction he said something about wanting to try skiing. well I jumped at the idea!
So any ideas as to where to go? Keep in mind we are willing to drive up to 5hrs. For a nice 3 or 4 days weekend.

Have mercy on the poor guy it will be his first try at skiing. Myself, i like the Bunny Trail!”

“Oh lets not forget about the Smurfs coming along!”

“first step in talking him into it: tell him you're not in charge of bringing the itinerary.
:-D

just jokes!!”

“Good one, Lyra! She deserved that...”

“that is classic...totally something i would do!”

“LOL, that is funny.
I almost started crying. I felt so bad. We were homeless!”

“ooookay, enough picking on maple! :-)

have you ever seen the adorable ski pants (YUM) and the hats and everything in the stores, treebeard? that alone should be enough to make you want to try skiing. i absolutely detest skiing with a passion, but every time i'm in a skiing store, i'm tempted to take it up sheerly to look like a ski bunny. LOL!!”

“Windham and Gore mountains...you will feel like your in heaven. Went there many years ago, and fell in love with it...

It is up in the Northern Catskills, above Tannersville....both places smoke Hunter in ambience and quality.

oh...btw...according to Stratusloop, Treebeard was in less than 100% capabilities for hiking...and you want to get him on skis???...is his life insurance all paid up...did you take out a larger policy??? or did Lord Aragorn come and administer Atheleas leaves and cure his suffering and thereby recieve a miraculous recovery?

Have fun!!!”

“LOL @ you both!
I was thinking of Otis Ma. Its a small ski resort. But I was also thinking of the Catskills because it is closer to us. I like the idea of mid-week. Less people!!!”

“unless we can turn this into a TUBAPALOOZA?
and we can go snowtubing with a bunch of TTer's?”

“Snowtubing sounds really good as agroup project. I've been putting off skiing all these years, I could put it off a little longer.”

“Sounds like we are all going down a mountain in giant Tubas”

“Treebeard, forget skiing. Go straight to snowboarding!”

“That idea interests me, SG. I just don't know much about it.”

“OTIS RIDGE! HAHA! That's too funny. I am in Otis about twice a month and will be from 12/27-1/03. I can't believe anyone on here knows Otis Ridge. I've never been there but it looks like a great beginner hill. Hunter sucks - definitely don't go there. Put treebeard on a SNOWBOARD.”

“is snowboarding easier? i don't like the thought of my feet being unable to move from their position.”

“I have skied for many years. Tried snowboarding once and ended up in a cast.

I've heard that if you're a skier, learning to snowboard can be more difficult than if you've never tried either.

So, treebeard, try whichever one you think you're more interested in. I don't think maple will care if you're wearing skis or a snowboard... as long as your getting out onto the slopes.

It's fuuuunnn stuff!”

“Killington, VT - if we got a big group of people together we could get a really good rate on rooms and lift tickets - there are usually coupons for discounts on gear rental too!

Not sure if there is snow tubing at Killington - but there are lots of great ski trails and snowboarding!

I also remember having seen signs for snow mobiling.

I'll start looking into it - if not for this idea then perhaps for another trip!”

“I've skied many times, and tried snowboarding for the first time a few years ago. I will likely never get back on my ski's again. I ended up quite bruised and sore, but damn, it was fun!

Don't think about snowboarding without a lesson. I almost quit during my lesson because it was so frustrating, but at the end, something finally clicked and I totally figured it all out. Had great fun the rest of the day!

A lesson, whether with a board or ski's, will make it MUCH more enjoyable. You'll learn to do things the right way (including falling) and it will make it much easier.”

“great advice smiley. Unfortunately, if you've never skiied or snowboarded before, you're not in for a good time (unless you spend a good deal of time at the lodge bar in front of the fireplace preferably with a member of the Swedish bikini team). Skiing and snowboarding are VERY frustrating the 1st time but when that something "clicks" you are off and running. Wear mucho padding (knees and butt) and DON'T wear jeans.”

“I definitely could have used more "padding" on my butt. Thought I had enough, but that apparently wasn't the case!”

“Okay, let's talk typical injuries for a minute. Iffin' you're skiing, most injuries are waist down (knees). Iffin' you're boarding, most injuries are waist up (wrists). Most important piece of equipment is inside your brain bucket. Don't overdo it. Stay within your abilities.

Yesterday, my boys didn't stay within their abilities. I reminded them that 2 years ago, in this very spot, son #2 broke his thumb. Well, ya gotta know what son #3 does... that's right, he launched himself on the very first jump of the very first run... I called his mother to come and get him, broken wrist.

I pretty sternly point this out to sons #2 and 3. I tell them to roll gently over these things in the terrain park first time anyways. These ain't launching pads. This is their first time on boards in over a year. You know, I might as well have been talking to the oak tree over yonder. About 2 PM, we go looking for the kids and find son #2 sitting in the lodge, holding his wrist..... He does come back out later and takes a couple more runs. Incidentally, you needs your hands and wrists when you board quite a bit. He's able to do it, so we're guessing he's strained something, hoping nothing's broken. I haven't heard the doctor's report on him yet. Son #1 seems to have no boarding related injuries.

Now let's talk about me on skiis. Did I mention that out of our party of 7, there was only one person whose butt never touched the snow. Um... who was that?? Oh yeah, that was me!!!! (SMIRK). Actually, I like to mention that as I am famous for loosing my skiis and doing the turtle on the back routine down the ski slope. I know how to tumble pretty good, the snow is quite often soft, and I'm pretty well layered with clothing (padding). They will set your ski bindings to a precise release specification, based on your weight, age, ability, length of ski and who knows what else. If this is your first time, absolutely tell them you are a beginner. If your legs twist up at all, the skiis release from your boots and you can tumble without them breaking your legs. Sure, it's a little undignified riding on your goggles, spread eagle face in the snow, then having to climb back up to your skiis. I have never been hurt on my skiis, they have always released when I needed them to. And let me tell you, I have yard saled and put on some real shows.

Snowboards, typically, won't release. I haven't learned to tumble with it attached, and last year I dove into the mountain pretty hard. But it is true that the learning curve for a board is faster than skiis, especially if you have used a skate board. They have more control, brake faster, also go faster (IMHO). For the record I actually snowboarded before I down hill skiied. But I cross country skiied for years before both of them.

Myself, I like skiing better, but snowboarding is a lot of fun too, and you can do things on a board that you can't on skiis. So, choose your pleasure, and enjoy.”

“The first time I went skiing I went with a group of friends up to Killington. They said lessons were a waste of time, so they pumped a couple beers into me took me to the top told me all I needed was to remember three things. Go for it. Caution to the wind. Out of control. And with a sudden push from them I was off. What a great group of friends.”

“snow plow, snow plow, snow plow - and when that fails to work - throw yourself to one side and sit on yer' bum!”

“Twinkle toes speaks wisely!”

“ok I need to know what " doing the turtle on the back routine down the ski slope" is?”

“i think it means sliding out of control on your back dosn the slope...either that or its some sort of breakdancing move!”

“Uh, have you ever seen a turtle on it's back?”

“i saw itd both!”

“Turtle on the back, generally is what I often looked like my first year of skiing. Generally, this also meant that my skiis, (which, by the way, had run-away gear on them, to keep them them from sliding down the hill when they fall off) were rapidly disappearing way up the slope. Occasionally, a good hearted skiier would gather them up for me, applaud the show I had just given him/her, and present me with my skiis. Sometimes, it's really good to have some one watching you, because the snow is deep and the skiis are buried in there somewhere...”

“So, Treebeard, ya gonna do it???”

“Snowboarding? Yeah, I'd like to”

“Snowboarding? Yeah, I'd like to”

“Snowboarding? Yeah, I'd like to”

“Snowboarding? Yeah, I'd like to. Trying to figure out whether I can do more damage to my body by skiing or snowboarding.”

“Yeah, tough call! :)”

“Wow, did this computer hiccup or just plain out regurgitate?”

“snowtubing is my safest bet. you have to really inept to fall out of one of those..”

“smily its only a 13hr drive to mass, are you coming???

god bless your pc treebeard.”

“Don't downplay the danger of snow tubing. Plenty of injuries go along with that as well. Wear a helmet! :)”

“13 hours? Cripes! I'm doubtful I'd get there! When? I'm hoping to get up north (MI) to get some snowboarding in soon. I know we don't have mountains, but its a good excuse to go visit some friends.”

“True. Have heard stories about that. Just wondering how many of those are due to people getting a little crazy or overzealous while tubing”

“helmet and vodka and tonics!!!
the outfit of champinions!!”

“uh oh.”

“I just got back from a little snowboarding. I went to a couple hills, one was windblown, the other was covered with kids. So.... I went right out in the backyard and practiced going over the edge, kinda simulates getting off the lift. Pretty much aced it. Really sweet on 15 inches of new stuff. Did 3 dozen runs and I was drenched with sweat. Alot of work coming back up the hill. I am ready to go to a real hill with lifts and play in the deep stuff on a snowboard!!! Stinks having to work today, can't play so much.”

“Oh, getting off the chair lift. I can't do that on ski's or on a snowboard. LOL!”

“Try doing it snowtubing, rolling off the innertube is not as easy as it sounds. I smashed my knee 6 times. still sore....”

“Actually, I feel real good about the boarding now. I really needed to get excited about it. Here's the story:

Last year, we were at Killington and it was pretty icy. Come 2 PM and it was all scraped off to ice. So we went to the bunny trails. Mostly beginners there, who don't ski so aggresively (SP), and they make more snow for those areas. So there was at least some snow there.

I took a few runs down a green trail (beginner) then got a couple runs down a blue (Intermediate). End of the day, a little tired, legs a little rubbery, I'm taking a turn down a steep section and the front edge of my board catches.

For various reasons, I do not tumble, but rather try to catch myself. Bear in mind, I'm airborne, and I'm trying catch myself. Looks alot like a handstand. My left arm collapses and my elbow, complete with pad, is buried in my short ribs on the left side. I am essentially shoulder first into the hill. I knocked the wind out of myself. As I land I use the momentun to flip over on my back to get my breath back, and I am thinking, not a rib, anything but a rib.

My wife skiis over and asks if I am okay. I gasp out a "nooooo". She is freaking, but I finally get my breathe back. I check myself out, and everything seems okay. So I finish the run, go back up and do another run. After this run, I am wasted, so we call it a day. We pack, and I hit the bathroom. Just before I flushed, I looked down. I had peed all blood. Obviously, I did something to my kidney. No pain, but... I get checked out, they recommend a doctor. I don't go at first, despite my wife's protests.

Next day. I can not move my left arm and my shoulder is sore, and I'm still peeing blood. The blood stops later at noon. For 3 days, I was to have my arm in a sling. Third day, I finally go to the doctor. Doctor says my arm is going to be okay, just took a while for the adrenaline to immobilize my arm, but all was normal. Then he admonished me about the blood in my urine, and says it could have been truly serious, and if that ever happens again, go immediately to the doctor.

So anyways, I have been a little hesitant to try that again, but now I am ready. Nothing like a good outing to restore excitement and confidence.

Yehaw!!!!”