My colleagues organised a ski trip on Sunday 9th December. It's my first time going to a ski field in the Alps and I haven't tried skiing before, so it was an opportunity not to be missed! We headed off to Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser in Scheffau, Austria.
Before heading up the slopes, I needed to rent some skiing equipment. The first challenge to skiing came from the ski boots. They formed a very tight wrap around the calves and the feet to the extent that the feet basically became fixed. While I appreciate that this would offer the best protection against twisting ankles, the boots also rendered normal walking movements clumsy and robotic.
Up on the hills, I put my boots into the skis and tried my best to navigate around, but I couldn't even manage my way up a very slight, harmless slope. My colleagues were finally convinced that I really needed some skiing lessons, like what I told them before!
Thus I booked myself into a 2-hour private lesson. I first learnt how to walk on the snow, how to ski down a slope, and how to control my speed and brake during skiing. After getting a hang of the basics, my coach took me to a longer slope and taught me how to make turns during skiing. Once at the bottom of the slope, there was a moving rope that could carry skiers uphill again by holding onto the rope. My coach was always telling me that I should avoid the squatting position by putting too much weight on the buttocks, and that I should transfer all my weight to the side opposite to the direction that I wanted to turn. Very helpful tips - if I remember them when I go skiing next time. It started snowing in the middle of my skiing lesson. I thought it was quite cool to be skiing in the snow at first, but it was much less fun when the snow picked up with time. Without ski goggles, I would have been spending all my time wiping the snow and water off my spectacles. The chilliness in the air also started to bite and my nose was dribbling incessantly. Time to retreat to somewhere warm, I thought, and lunch wasn't such a bad idea!
Afterwards I decided to go for some practice myself, so I returned to the slope where I've been to just before lunch. It didn't help to see a man standing in the middle of the way carrying a baby; I couldn't bear the thought - and certainly the consequences - of crashing into him and the baby knowing my capabilities. I thought I would just head to another slope, but as I turned around, I lost my balance, fell onto the snow and my left boot came off the skis. That's when trouble struck. I tried to rub off the snow at the bottom of my boot before putting it back on the ski, but to no avail even after more than 10 minutes. The only thing I could do was to take off the other boot from the other ski, limp all the way back to where I had lunch and ask my colleagues to check what was wrong. It turned out that a piece of ice insidiously stuck to the sole was the culprit. Argh, there went a good part of the hour doing nothing useful. Then I only went to the closest slope to practise some skiing. It took less than half a minute to go downhill, but at least 3 minutes or so to climb back up before another run downwards. It's not hard to work out how much time I had to actually practise my skiing, and that was rather frustrating for a beginner. Maybe I should have taken more private lessons instead!
My colleagues offered me their comforting words, that skiing is always difficult at the start and would become much easier after a few runs. All sports activities are like this after all, but I've never expected that the learning curve for skiing is so steep! There's the issue of practising. Skiing is not something that can be as practised easily as some common sports. One needs to travel to the ski fields, many of which are difficult to reach without a car. Then there are equipment rental, day-passes of the ski fields and ski lessons which all suck in money fast. I know very well that new skills will fall away very rapidly without intent and continual practice, but I'm afraid this will be the fate of my skiing.
12月9日（星期日）同事安排去滑雪，難得如此機會，而且從未嘗滑雪，便跟他們一伙人前往奧地利Scheffau的Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser滑雪場。
上山前先得租滑雪器材，一穿上滑雪靴，嘩，很辛苦，靴把小腿下半部及足部緊緊裹着，足部完全沒有活動的餘地，真能完全保護足腂免受扭傷，但走起來就舉步為艱，比機械人還要笨拙。
上到山頂，把雪靴穿到雪橇上，連上一個小小的暗斜時也不止向下滑，同事也不得不認同，我得先上滑雪課了！
於是我便跟一個教練上了兩小時課，先教我怎樣在雪上行走，如何下滑，下滑時如何控制速度及剎停，待我掌握了基本技巧後，再到另一個比較長的斜坡，教我下滑時如何轉彎抹角，滑到斜坡底部，便可扶着一道會移動的繩索，上斜坡頂再來一躺。教練不斷提點我下滑時姿勢不應如蹲着一樣，重心應稍稍向前，拐彎時又應把重心完全側向跟拐彎方向相反的另一邊，以後再滑雪時我也會記住。上課中段開始下雪，初時也覺得挺有氣氛，但後來下得四周都朦朧，不戴滑雪鏡，便得不停抹眼鏡，而且天氣漸見冰寒，鼻涕流不停，再想趕快回暖一點的地方躲躲！
午飯後雪止了，本想自己練習一會，回到午飯前的斜坡，但見有個男人抱着嬰孩站在滑雪道中間，很是沒趣——以我的技術，稍一不慎便可能撞到嬰孩，對大家都不好吧。一回頭時失重心跌到，左面的雪靴跟雪橇脫離，依照同事教導的方法刮去靴底的雪後再穿上雪橇，怎料花了十多分鐘也穿不上，沒辦法下祇好脫去另一隻雪橇，徒步走回吃午飯的地方，勞煩同事替我檢查靴底，又擾攘了十多分鐘，才發現原來是靴底的一片冰塊作怪，唉，這樣就枉費了大半句鐘的時光。之後到不遠的一個小斜坡練習，滑下來不消半分鐘，但走上坡頂也得三數分鐘，真正練習下滑的時間實在不多，於是一個多小時內，練習到滑雪的時間少之又少，可真掃興！那時我更加體會到單對單教授的好處，尤其是初學者。
同事安慰道，滑雪之始必艱苦，滑過幾次掌握到技巧後便輕鬆自在得多。凡學新的體育運動，此階段總少不免，祇不過沒想到滑雪最初是如此艱難，而且練習的機會始終不多，不駕車就不易到雪山，而且每次租器材、買滑雪一日證及上滑雪課所費不菲，一開始的時候不勤加練習，武功必會廢，看來我的滑雪技術也快會落得同一下場。
PS - even though I didn't totally enjoy the skiing, the scenery was certainly memorable!
後記：滑雪雖不像我想像中好玩，但在雪山光看風景也不錯！
Scheffau before (left) and after (right) the clouds rolled in
Scheffau 在雲霧籠罩前（左）後（右）的景色
A whole world of skiing 一望無際的雪山
The views from the cable car upon descend
Before heading up the slopes, I needed to rent some skiing equipment. The first challenge to skiing came from the ski boots. They formed a very tight wrap around the calves and the feet to the extent that the feet basically became fixed. While I appreciate that this would offer the best protection against twisting ankles, the boots also rendered normal walking movements clumsy and robotic.
Up on the hills, I put my boots into the skis and tried my best to navigate around, but I couldn't even manage my way up a very slight, harmless slope. My colleagues were finally convinced that I really needed some skiing lessons, like what I told them before!
Thus I booked myself into a 2-hour private lesson. I first learnt how to walk on the snow, how to ski down a slope, and how to control my speed and brake during skiing. After getting a hang of the basics, my coach took me to a longer slope and taught me how to make turns during skiing. Once at the bottom of the slope, there was a moving rope that could carry skiers uphill again by holding onto the rope. My coach was always telling me that I should avoid the squatting position by putting too much weight on the buttocks, and that I should transfer all my weight to the side opposite to the direction that I wanted to turn. Very helpful tips - if I remember them when I go skiing next time. It started snowing in the middle of my skiing lesson. I thought it was quite cool to be skiing in the snow at first, but it was much less fun when the snow picked up with time. Without ski goggles, I would have been spending all my time wiping the snow and water off my spectacles. The chilliness in the air also started to bite and my nose was dribbling incessantly. Time to retreat to somewhere warm, I thought, and lunch wasn't such a bad idea!
Afterwards I decided to go for some practice myself, so I returned to the slope where I've been to just before lunch. It didn't help to see a man standing in the middle of the way carrying a baby; I couldn't bear the thought - and certainly the consequences - of crashing into him and the baby knowing my capabilities. I thought I would just head to another slope, but as I turned around, I lost my balance, fell onto the snow and my left boot came off the skis. That's when trouble struck. I tried to rub off the snow at the bottom of my boot before putting it back on the ski, but to no avail even after more than 10 minutes. The only thing I could do was to take off the other boot from the other ski, limp all the way back to where I had lunch and ask my colleagues to check what was wrong. It turned out that a piece of ice insidiously stuck to the sole was the culprit. Argh, there went a good part of the hour doing nothing useful. Then I only went to the closest slope to practise some skiing. It took less than half a minute to go downhill, but at least 3 minutes or so to climb back up before another run downwards. It's not hard to work out how much time I had to actually practise my skiing, and that was rather frustrating for a beginner. Maybe I should have taken more private lessons instead!
My colleagues offered me their comforting words, that skiing is always difficult at the start and would become much easier after a few runs. All sports activities are like this after all, but I've never expected that the learning curve for skiing is so steep! There's the issue of practising. Skiing is not something that can be as practised easily as some common sports. One needs to travel to the ski fields, many of which are difficult to reach without a car. Then there are equipment rental, day-passes of the ski fields and ski lessons which all suck in money fast. I know very well that new skills will fall away very rapidly without intent and continual practice, but I'm afraid this will be the fate of my skiing.
12月9日（星期日）同事安排去滑雪，難得如此機會，而且從未嘗滑雪，便跟他們一伙人前往奧地利Scheffau的Skiwelt Wilder Kaiser滑雪場。
上山前先得租滑雪器材，一穿上滑雪靴，嘩，很辛苦，靴把小腿下半部及足部緊緊裹着，足部完全沒有活動的餘地，真能完全保護足腂免受扭傷，但走起來就舉步為艱，比機械人還要笨拙。
上到山頂，把雪靴穿到雪橇上，連上一個小小的暗斜時也不止向下滑，同事也不得不認同，我得先上滑雪課了！
於是我便跟一個教練上了兩小時課，先教我怎樣在雪上行走，如何下滑，下滑時如何控制速度及剎停，待我掌握了基本技巧後，再到另一個比較長的斜坡，教我下滑時如何轉彎抹角，滑到斜坡底部，便可扶着一道會移動的繩索，上斜坡頂再來一躺。教練不斷提點我下滑時姿勢不應如蹲着一樣，重心應稍稍向前，拐彎時又應把重心完全側向跟拐彎方向相反的另一邊，以後再滑雪時我也會記住。上課中段開始下雪，初時也覺得挺有氣氛，但後來下得四周都朦朧，不戴滑雪鏡，便得不停抹眼鏡，而且天氣漸見冰寒，鼻涕流不停，再想趕快回暖一點的地方躲躲！
午飯後雪止了，本想自己練習一會，回到午飯前的斜坡，但見有個男人抱着嬰孩站在滑雪道中間，很是沒趣——以我的技術，稍一不慎便可能撞到嬰孩，對大家都不好吧。一回頭時失重心跌到，左面的雪靴跟雪橇脫離，依照同事教導的方法刮去靴底的雪後再穿上雪橇，怎料花了十多分鐘也穿不上，沒辦法下祇好脫去另一隻雪橇，徒步走回吃午飯的地方，勞煩同事替我檢查靴底，又擾攘了十多分鐘，才發現原來是靴底的一片冰塊作怪，唉，這樣就枉費了大半句鐘的時光。之後到不遠的一個小斜坡練習，滑下來不消半分鐘，但走上坡頂也得三數分鐘，真正練習下滑的時間實在不多，於是一個多小時內，練習到滑雪的時間少之又少，可真掃興！那時我更加體會到單對單教授的好處，尤其是初學者。
同事安慰道，滑雪之始必艱苦，滑過幾次掌握到技巧後便輕鬆自在得多。凡學新的體育運動，此階段總少不免，祇不過沒想到滑雪最初是如此艱難，而且練習的機會始終不多，不駕車就不易到雪山，而且每次租器材、買滑雪一日證及上滑雪課所費不菲，一開始的時候不勤加練習，武功必會廢，看來我的滑雪技術也快會落得同一下場。
PS - even though I didn't totally enjoy the skiing, the scenery was certainly memorable!
後記：滑雪雖不像我想像中好玩，但在雪山光看風景也不錯！
Scheffau before (left) and after (right) the clouds rolled in
Scheffau 在雲霧籠罩前（左）後（右）的景色
A whole world of skiing 一望無際的雪山
The views from the cable car upon descend
吊車下山時沿途景色
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