I love skiing.
I’m in the fresh outdoors
I’m exercising
I’m with my family for a week, with no conflicting activities.
But, I was a bit concerned about our ski trip the week of New Years. Why?
Last November I could barely walk around my home, much less ski. After an airplane trip to Memphis, my hip slowly deteriorated. There was pain to walk for several weeks and eventually I had a hard time standing from a chair, walking upstairs or getting in a car.
I made my first appointment with Dr. Minke, but had to wait a few weeks for him to get back from speaking in Singapore. A few days before my appointment, my inability to walk set in.
I was packing for our ski trip with a little apprehension. I didn’t understand my apprehension. I’ve packed for many trips, both in & out of the United States. My tension was not normal.
When we arrived in Colorado, here’s what we felt
That forecast was wrong. It was only four degrees on Wednesday. I was praying for warmer weather, literally.
By the time we hit the slopes, most of my tension had faded away.
But I was still concerned. Could I ski without hurting my hip?
My nephew, David, was with us the first day before he met his friends at Breckenridge.
It was still freezing cold…and overcast
We skied down a few runs and things were going great. I was back to my normal self. As long as I warmed my fingers on the chair lifts, everything would be fine.
In the middle of our next run, the kids headed to another chair lift so I followed them. It was a blue run & I felt comfortable on blues.
We unloaded from the lift and headed down the slope. No biggie until we turned the corner and there were moguls everywhere and it was steep.
The kids skied and snowboarded ahead of me. I started down the run. Every time I turned left, my hip started hurting. I had to work extra hard to make the turn. I did not want to fall. I did not want to hurt.
Steve stayed behind me to be sure I was OK. It seemed to take forever just to get a fourth of the way down this slope.
He asked how I was doing & I replied, “Okay, but it hurts.”
By now, the kids had left this slope & skied to the bottom of the mountain.
I ski down a little further. I look at Steve & say, “I can’t make it. I’m not skiing down the rest of the way”. I take off my skis and tell him I’m walking down this run.
I’ve never quit on a ski slope. I’ve endured to make it down the slope. I don’t give up.
But I didn’t want to hurt myself & it’s not worth hurting every time I turn left.
Steve comes to my rescue and carries my skis as I walk. Walking down the slope is not that easy, either. My boots sink if I didn’t land on packed snow.
So, I finally sit down and slide down a ways. It was faster & easier. Embarrassing, but faster.
Get up & walk a little more. Sit down & slide some.
I’m sure I looked silly, walking & sliding the rest of the way down. It still took forever to get to the bottom of this slope, but I finally made.
My pride was not intact, but I was in one piece & ready to ski down the mountain.
One positive is I wasn’t cold because I worked up a sweat walking & sliding.
We made it down to the bottom mountain and met our kids. Up another chair lift & down.
By now, cold had set back in. I couldn’t feel my fingers. Hey, it was four degrees. I looked at Steve & said, “I’m going in and warming up. The rest of you can keep skiing.”
He was cold too, so we went to the lodge and warmed up.
We weren’t such ski babies because our kids showed up after their next run. We bought lots of hot chocolate.
Thank goodness, the rest of the trip warmed up and I was able to enjoy many more runs…on my skis, not my rear!
Question: Would you have walked down the slope, too? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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