 |
| Blue Mountains Resort |
We had returned yesterday night after 2 days away skiing at the Blue Mountains Resort in Collingwood, Ontario. Never having been skiing before, we were unsure what to expect, despite having read the advice page off the Blue Mountain website.
 |
| Ski village at night |
We had pre-booked accommodation, ski lift passes and a private lesson. We read up on what to wear, what not to wear and thought we would learn about the rest when we got there. What we have learned from our first skiing experience is :-
1) Get to the resort as early as you can to check-in, even if your room is not ready, be prepared for long check-in queues, to get your lift passes, if you have purchased them with accommodation.
2) Get to the equipment rentals early, to avoid long queues, read up on rental procedure before you arrive, for this resort, we had to input each of our details at the rentals check in, before going to the counter, so they have record of your weight, age and shoe size (for boot rentals)
We arrived at 11.30, 2 hours ahead of our booked lesson, but was still rushing to get to the lesson on time. The queues for the rental was madness, and not knowing what to do, added to the stress. Luckily there were some stewards around that were able to get us ahead of the queues as we had a lesson booked.
We got our equipment, was rushing as we didn't want to be late for our lesson and Dave and Jasmine ended up with boots that weren't a good fit. I was the first to get my equipment on and went to make sure the instructors knew we were there. I was greeted by a lovely instructor, who watched me struggle to walk in my boots and carry my skis and ski poles. What must I have looked like??? A sight! He knew straight away I was a virgin skier. I said, I've not done this before....He said with humour in his voice, what clues have we here that give you away? Hahahaha. I hoped he was going to be our instructor as I had a good rapport going with him, but it was not meant to be, he was assigned to 2 small children who were ready for lessons and the rest of my family were not on the snow yet.
 |
| Dave looking the part |
They (Dave, Mitch and Jas) finally appeared and we were assigned Roberto, an Italian Canadian, about 60 years old. He was charming and a bit of a ladies man, LOL. We had a bit of a shaky start as there was no designated space for us, and we tried to share the use of the "Discovery" nursery slopes but got in their way, so after a few tentative first runs, we were taken on out first ski lift ride, a magic carpet to our first gentle slope. This was after we had been taught how to stop/ plough, turn right and left. We were taught, but this does not mean we could do it!
 |
| Looking good |
 |
| Jasmine on skis |
The end of our lesson came too soon, and we were let off to practice. We did so, but decided to end and maybe ski later as it was nearly 5pm and we had missed lunch to get to the lesson on time. We still needed to get our stuff to our room, and then find something to eat. We were advised by reception to ring the list of restaurants before we set off, to see what the waiting times were. I made the decision to just set out and try our luck. Now, had we been told that reservations really should be made as we are very busy, unusually so, we would have called the restaurants. To our dismay, we could not get on anywhere, some had no tables, some had 1-1.5 hours wait. For a starving family, this was not good. Finally, in exasperation, after being told there were no tables available for the 4th time, I asked the Maitre D, what to do if I wanted to get fed... she suggested Firehall Pizza as they did not take reservations but had a buzzer system, first come first served. Off we trotted in the snow to Firehall, and as we approached it, we saw people leaving with take-outs so, I said, lets do that, take some pizza out and eat in our room. Luckily for us, when I approached the bar to place my order, I noticed there were 3 bar stools available, so asked the barmaid if we could eat at the bar. She said yes, so I grabbed the 3 seats, called Mitch on his cell as he had gone outside whilst I was getting the take out. I knew another seat would be available soon, or I would just throw someone off theirs! Big serving of Nachos, 3 pizzas, 2 apple pies and several drinks later, we felt so much better and walked back to our room. Mitch wanted to do some night time skiing, but he looked so tired, but was not admitting to this, of course. We decided to have an earlyish night as they had snowboarding camp in the morning.
Dave crashed out at about 8! The kids and I stayed up to watch Back to the Future Part 2, then lights out. Our room was small for 4 people, a queen bed and a double sofa bed. It had a little kitchenette and a small dining table and was en-suite. It was a noisy night, with the Grand Georgian at full capacity, we just happened to be opposite a group of noisy teenagers, who spent some of the night riding the luggage trolley! I was on the sofa bed with Jasmine, which was lovely as she cuddled up to me, and she's very cuddable...
 |
| At the bar at Firehall |
 |
| The uncomfy sofa bed |
2nd day dawned early, as we had to get our rental equipment from the ski valet to be returned, we were confused as to how many days rental we had paid for. There was the added complication of the kids snowboarding lessons being in South Base and our equipment was currently rented from the village base, what to do, what to do? Sigh, all this uncertainty as what to do for the best and to get to South Base to be in time for the lessons were marring our experience. I was getting really stressed, and though I knew this wouldn't help anything, I couldn't help myself, all part of wanting to be in control, I guess. Blooming uptight, no wonder my arteries are tight and I have high blood pressure, not a minutes peace or let go, even when I am supposed to be on holiday!! All I can say is that, thank goodness for the 4 months of yoga lessons I got for Christmas. If this is one thing I would like to change for myself, it would be this, to be happy to have less control, one can't be in control of everything, and I should accept that and be happy...... one day, not tomorrow, next week or even next month, one day.
 |
| Chris and Mitch |
What happened with the equipment dilemma? Well, we returned everything, and decided to pick up the rentals at South Base, went to Starbuck's for a take out breakfast, while we waited for the shuttle to South Base. We got there in plenty of time, got our equipment and had plenty of time to get the kids to their lesson. Confusion again as to where to meet for the lesson...more stress, but all's well that end's well. We got them to the lesson on time, they had a great experience, Mitch was confident enough to try the green runs after 1 hour 45 mins instructions, Jasmine could snowboard but not as confidently as Mitch.
 |
| Snowboarding lesson |
While they had their lesson, Dave and I hit the green slopes on our own, Dave unfortunately fell forwards, landing heavily on his front and onto the handle of one of the ski poles, ouch! We tried the gentler slopes and I was happy and confident, but Dave was feeling a tad shaky after his fall. He went on to fall forward twice more, the final time when we were disembarking the chair lift onto the tallest green run, that we talked ourselves into doing. On a chair lift with our skis on and poles in our hands, we felt nervous, as it rose up and we were hoisted up into the air, feeling exhilarated at the same time. We were then worrying about how we were going to get off in one piece, and ski down what looked like a mountain, even though it was only a small hill, hehehehe nervously. We had no choice really, ski down or walk down I guess.
 |
| The moment of truth, will I make it down in one piece ? |
I challenged myself, with fear in my heart, and anxiety as to whether I was going to survive this, I set off down the Big Baby, feeling like a baby, realising too late that perhaps we should have had a few more lessons before attempting this. Dave by my side, we set off, I skied down, ploughing mostly, trying to steer off the steeper areas, trying to go slow but I gained so much momentum and speed that no matter what I did, I was going faster and faster...I tried to turn, plough, whatever but I wasn't slowing down, and I wanted to stop as I was not in control.... yes, yes, that control thing again. So, I fell onto my bottom and slid a little way down the hill. I then could not gain my balance to get both skis on and trudged down the hill in my boots, and eventually skied the last bit down. Dave fell twice on the way down, but he didn't walk any of the way down. At the bottom of the hill, he said, he'd had enough, his chest was hurting too much, he felt like he'd cracked a rib.
 |
| kids ski school |
Whilst Dave and I were on the slopes, we couldn't but help notice how amazingly easy skiing seemed to the children, some toddler size, but so confident on their little skis, whizzing past us, no ski poles, being told what to do by instructors or their parents, all seemingly effortless. Oh, the joys of being a child...
 |
| Big Baby, we skied down this one |
We collected the kids after their lesson, Dave and Jas returned their equipment, Mitch and I kept ours as Mitch wanted to snowboard after lunch and also do some night time boarding, so yours truly had to accompany him on her skis!
 |
| Mitch looking cool |
 |
| snoozing all the way home |
We left Blue Mountains after dinner, where Mitchell announced that he now,"feels accomplished!" We arrived back home just after 22.20.... a wonderful time had by all despite the aches, pains and stress, no pain, no gain? You bet, so much gain, so happy to have done it, I can ski..... yippeeee, never thought this would happen, but it has, thank you Canada for making this possible...one ticked off the bucket list for Dave too.
Happy New Year......2011, here we come...
Activities: Alpine skiing, half-pipe, terrain park, night skiing, tubing, cross-country, snowshoe trails
