She who conquered the hill

Downhill skiing has to be one of those things that I would avoid at all costs just because I'm terrified to try. The thought of me trying to ski down a hill always ends with the image of me rolling all the way down and seriously hurting myself and other people. Yesterday was our departmental ski trip and I signed up because I didn't really want to be left out (although I nearly wanted to opt out because I was so scared). And so I went anyways because there were lessons promised.

Yesterday was the big day and I was all geared up in my ski pants, toque and mittens and ready to hit the bunny slope. But as we approached the club we looked straight up to see the slopes that were very high and long. The first thing I asked was, "Where are the bunny hills?". As we went out with our rental skis, I discovered that there were no bunny hills. Georgian Peaks Ski Club (which is a private one with a membership of $30,000!) has the highest peak in all of Ontario. Petrified I just moved around and waited for the instructor. On flat ground I could move very well but it wasn't as easy as cross country skiing (which I'm much better at). My first attempt on the slopes resulted in a spectacular wipe out where I hit my head and face in the snow and subsequently busted my glasses. The most embarrassing thing was having to call one of my managers and to get the keys to the car so I could grab my spare pair and then have both of the managers, one of the other analysts and the VP rush to see what the fuss was. My VP was worried but I told him that I wanted to quickly get my other pair because I wanted to go back and try again (scored bonus points for sheer determination).

Much to my enjoyment, I got the hang of stopping and was going up and down the hills fairly well. At lunch my everyone was trying to convince me that the highest slope was easy and that if I could manage the medium sized hill (which I thought was the bunny hill and ended up being the same difficulty as the highest peak) that I could easily ski the big one. "Do you think I'd really make you go us there if I didn't think you could handle it?" Well the honest truth is that I went up to ride the lift and to see the amazing view of Georgian Bay with the impression that I had a non-ski way of getting down. Holy fuckers, there wasn't and the only way down was to ski down the hill. We took some pictures and we all proceeded to the edge of the slope and I looked down and I thought I was going to piss in my pants because the first part was so steep. I stood there and wanted to cry and I looked at my manager with the face of absolute fear. I eventually just leaned forward and started to move and after 2 wipeouts I found myself at the bottom of the steep section and ready to ski across the nicely sloped Miss Pow grade portion of the hill. The greatest thing about all of this was that I had most of my colleagues watching me as I went down the hill and who also came to my rescue after some nasty spills (not to mention that it's lovely to be so well taken care of by a group of men).

It took me a really long time to finish the run but I'm proud to say that after beginning the day not knowing how to downhill ski, I was able to by the end of the day ski down Ontario's highest slope with only 6 falls!! Baby, I said 6!!! I know I wasn't as good as everyone else from my company, but I was really proud that I was able to overcome my fear however shitty I was at it. And to top off the rest of the day I started my drinking at 3:00pm on the patio and drank till midnight with my department, got drunk with my bosses, and I also won one of those shearling Canada Olympic hats!