Ski School

In preparation for my Valentine's Day ski weekend in Zermatt, Switzerland,  I decided to take ski lessons at a school on the border of Germany and Czech Republic. What was supposed to be a great weekend learning how to ski turned out to be interesting for sure...haha I will tell you why!

After work on friday, I drove straight to Karlovy Vary, a spa town in Czech Republic and stayed at a beautiful hotel overlooking the town. I paid very little for this hotel, but they greeted me with a glass of champagne and my room was perfect. I ran a bath, relaxed and watched Making of a Murderer. I was excited for ski school the next morning.

I arrived to the ski place about an hour early. I confirmed my booking, picked up my ski boots, skis and waited for my class to begin at 10:00 am. Getting the boots on were a bit uncomfortable, but I managed to learn how to get them on. I wish I would've worn better socks. They were bunching up in the boot and I hadn't even started to ski yet. 

I booked 4 hour group lessons for Saturday and Sunday, so I was excited to be able to learn at least the basics, or at least I thought. 

As 10:00 am, all of the instructors came and I wasn't sure where I was supposed to go so I asked one of the instructors if he spoke english, "Nein" (No) , he said. I went to ask another instructor and he also didn't speak English. I was pointed to a group so I just followed them.  

What did I get myself into??

The instructor started to explain how to put on skis and how to balance and get the feel for them, but I had no idea what he was saying so I just observed and repeated his movements. It wasn't bad, until I had to walk uphill and I kept sliding backwards. It took me 7 minutes to go uphill as everyone else was practicing. I was so frustrated because I was the only one lagging behind and I couldn't communicate with anyone to see what I was doing wrong. After watching the movements of my instructor I was able get the jist of it.

 I continued to watch my instructor and I was doing good, but one of my problems was I went too fast and I had no idea how to slow down. I kept bringing my knees toward each other and pointing my skis in a V shape, but I wasn't sure where I was distributing force on the skis because I continued to fly! I ate ice and snow so many times from falling, it was so funny! Watching all of the 4 yr old children ski better than me made me feel so pathetic! Oh well, I have to start somewhere.

The next day was probably the worst. We went up a steeper bunny slope and practiced different techniques. I was not consistent. Sometimes I would do really well and other times I wondered how the heck I made it without breaking a limb. I'm that person you feel sorry for after seeing them fly through the slope and land backwards or spattered on the snow. It was not pretty...haha The funniest was probably the last run of the day. The instructor told us to go down the slope and through a narrow path toward the entrance. I kept saying to myself, "Go slow, Stephanie. Go slow." I ended up going so fast that I ran into a house and people leaving the grounds. My instructor and peers laughed as they saw me on my butt. It was as if I didn't learn anything during the two days of skiing. 

Lessons Learned:

1. If you ever try something new, make sure it's in a language you understand.

2. Wear ski socks, my feet are covered in blisters.

3. Make sure my ski boots fit, I have a huge bruise on my shin. My shins are super sore.