To hell with skiing!

Everyone is going to have a good laugh at me when they read this. Every single cell of enthusiasm I had for skiing completely vanished after I put on the skiing boots and skis! I had the worst skiing experience of my life and I'm not sure if I ever want to ski again. I'm broken physically, mentally and emotionally.

The conditions I had were living hell for a first timer. It was snowing heavily (can't see from the pictures), the snow was slushy, there were many people and the beginner's slope looked totally intermediate to me! We had to carry our skis and poles from the hotel while wearing our ski boots which seriously hurt. By the time we reached Naeba ski resort, I already exhausted half my strength. Ricky, the organiser of the ski/snowboarding trip that we joined, was there waiting for us. Michael and Alex left to ski on their own while April and I stayed for a lesson taught by Ricky. He immediately brought us up on the chairlift that led to hell for me. I had to learn by going down the slope, which scared me to death! Because I didn't know how to stop. My legs couldn't bend to the "V" position required to stop the skis. Every time I tried to do that I felt that my legs were splitting apart. Every time I did that I fell. Ricky's instructions were just "Go!" & "Stop!". But my reaction was "Go!", "Panic!!", & "Crash!!!". I OVERFELL. All I could do was falling on the slope & it hurt. And believe me, it's TOUGH trying to get up while you're wearing skis that are longer than your legs! If Ricky wasn't there to help me up, I would just lie on the snow forever. I couldn't get up by myself and my legs couldn't move much. Also, I didn't want to because I would fall again seconds later. There was once I fell onto him front to front and he had to support me with his hands. Under normal circumstances, I would be embarrassed and horrified about where he touched me. But I was so desperate for my life that I didn't care! It was so pathetic. Everyone else was swishing past me....skiers & snowboarders. I envied everyone, including the kids.

Ricky said I have no leg muscles for skiing, which made everyone laugh when I told them later. Great...skiing has reinforced the fact that I'm probably not an outdoor person. Can't ice-skate, can't roller blade, CAN'T SKI! Luckily April didn't enjoy skiing too so I had someone to lament about skiing and laugh at ourselves for the rest of the day. After 2 hours and two chairlift rides, I called it quits. Both times, I walked defeatedly down to the end of the slope instead of skiing.

I was so miserable & super tired by the time we had to carry our skis back to the hotel and walk in those painful boots. I trailed behind the girls as I didn't have any ounce of strength left in me. A guy from our group that we bumped into not far away from the hotel offered to help carry my skis back. I was so grateful that I could marry him! haha....not really.

People laughed at my expression when they asked me how was skiing. Many said it's always hard for a first-timer and I should ski a second time during winter & not spring. The experience is different as the snow is like powder. I don't know.....................I'm not sure if I want to relive the terrible experience. I need a long time to recuperate and think about it. I don't regret doing it although I wished I could fling the skis & boots down the slope yesterday. It was a good but most traumatic experience.

P.S The funny thing is nobody warned me that it'll be tough the first time. They only said that after I tried it!