2 posts tagged “skiing”
Oh-oh I'm behind already in my blog updates... more Las Vegas/Grand Canyon photos to come but not this time...
Just came back from skiing with Hugo and Atul, leaving behind Tommer, Beau, Kieran and Wu to enjoy more of their snowboarding up at Snoqualmie. We stuck to Central (there's also West, East and Alpental), which has quite a few beginner and intermediate runs (which suits me just fine). Lesson for me: stick to greens and easy blues for now! I bet my legs will be sore in the morning but it was good to get out there for probably the last time this season before...
I start work with my new team in Windows Mobile on Monday. I can't really say what I'm working on (I've always wanted to say that), but I think it's going to be exciting coming almost full circle from when I first got out of uni working for Ericsson in Melbourne, to finally being able to work with the mobile devices I always dreamt about. The best part is that the office will be moving to a new building in South Lake Union in May, which will cut down my commute dramatically!
Okay time to go, I'm about to head out to a Missy Higgins gig at the Tractor Tavern... It's funny, I've probably seen more Aussie acts here in Seattle than I ever did back home (at least pro rata); off the top of my head: Ben Lee, Bernard Fanning, Cat Empire, Tim Finn, JBT... Now Missy Higgins, and probably The Waifs soon too!
Went skiing at Steven's Pass yesterday again with Milly, Atul and Nabeel, and like last time my initial misgivings about skiing were dispelled once I got out onto the slopes. I definitely think I improved my skills to the point where I can almost do the parallel turns thing (rather than the snowplough technique), so maybe next time I'll be brave enough to attempt a blue run! The key seems to be keeping one's weight forward and knees bent; from this position, it's much easier to maintain balance and control even if it seems counterintuitive because your first impulse is to lean back to slow down, which is a sure-fire way of falling on your backside. Experienced skiers will tell you this time and time again, but it's one of those pieces of advice that is hard to put into practice until you take a risk and just try it.
Time for some photos!
I think I'm gonna have to buy some better snow chains, which were mandatory on Steven's Pass that day because of the snowfall. If we'd gone in my car I think we'd have been there all day trying to put them on...
By the way, the special forces ninja in the first photo is Milly, who unfortunately didn't get to try out her fab new ski gear as much as she hoped that day thanks to a bad dehydration headache :(. Atul, on the other hand, got maximum value for his money and broke in his new snowboard... and managed to avoid wiping me out getting off the chairlift too so I was happy :).
As you can tell from the photos, we actually ended up night-skiing, from about 5pm to 9pm (Steven's closes at 10). I think it's actually better because you don't have the glare from the sun and there are fewer people around, but on the other hand it's definitely colder. (Note to self: buy some hand and foot warmers to insert on the inside of my boots and gloves -- nothing like the fear of frostbite to detract from your enjoyment!) The original plan was to leave at 6.30am, but that got vetoed at the last minute and we made the decision to head out at 10am instead (and enjoy a few extra precious hours of sleep). Unfortunately, there was no parking by the time we got to Steven's so we decided to take a 3-hour detour and have lunch/afternoon tea at Leavenworth (or Tacky Town as Milly dubbed it).
I will leave it to the Leavenworth website to fully pimp the delights of "Washington's Bavarian Village", so without further ado I now bring you the definition of irony:
On a side note, I did feel a pang of guilt (okay a fleeting one) about how much skiing seems to be a sport for the relatively affluent. Seventy bucks a pop for ski rental and lift pass (not to mention getting to the ski fields in the first place) makes skiing a non-trivial undertaking... Even if you decide to "save money" by buying your own equipment, I think $500 is pretty much the floor for how much you'll need to outlay. Oh well, at least it's cheaper than crack*.
Ski photos galore on Picasa (not to mention some featuring aforementioned Tacky Town).
