You’re never too old to learn (or relearn)

You’re never too old to learn:  It is possible to learn new things, at any age.  English proverb.

The first time I went skiing was in 1967. I had red wooden skis and made my debut on Bousquet Mountain in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.  I skied with two people – my dad and my sister.  Skiing was also part of my school curriculum at Berkshire Country Day School.

It has been many years since I put on a pair of skis, or went skiing with my sister, until last week.  For the sake of newness, I did consider trying to snowboard, but was told by the guy I rented my skis from that I’d be wet, cold, miserable and on my backside the entire time, so I declined. While technically not a brand new experience, there were some new things I learned.

– Skiing is like riding a bike. Once you learn, you really don’t forget.
– There are no rope tows, J bars or T bars anymore! Just chairlifts.
– There are many more snowboarders than skiers on the slopes.
– Green hills (beginner!) suit me just fine.
– Long lift rides go much faster when you chat to your sister.
– I have never experienced an empty ski resort – we owned the slopes for two days, literally!
– Retirement allows you to book ski time mid-week!
– I was able to smell the surrounding pines, tried to figure out which animal foot prints were in the snow on each ride up the mountain and was in awe of the beautiful clear blue sky.
– Arizona skiing is warm.

As a child, I thought Bousquet Mountain was huge and the trails immense, until I did a comparison with Sunrise Park Resort – three peaks, one reaching 11,100′ and tons of trails. Arizona skiing rocks!

On our return to Scottsdale, we managed to get lost, though I can’t understand how!  Driving to Sunrise was pretty straight forward, but on the way back we stumbled upon a Grand Canyon look-alike.  That’s when we realized we took a wrong turn. Without internet service or a paper map, we drove on and on, through tiny towns and old depots, including copper mining town, Globe, Arizona.

I’m back in the desert sunshine, missing the wide runs and looking forward to making the trip to Sunrise an annual sister ski blitz.