Well another fruitful trip to Mountain High. God blessed us with some overcast weather which kept the snow from being too slushy. We were joined by our instructor Tim and his brother Steve as an assistant. We got started after we received a lift up the mountain to the Adaptive Learning Center in a buggy. We did a quick assessment near their carpet lift to ensure I still had the skills to drive the Bi-ski. It took me a moment to adjust but the skills raced back as we went down the “Bunny” slope.
Tim made a command decision to head to the lifts and he informed us how we were to proceed with him using a snowboard to guide the training. Mountain High is at the cutting edge of adaptive instruction. Normally instructors would use skis and snowboarding while teaching the bi-ski was frowned upon before the technology was available.
I felt groggy from the early morning and went through the pre-game jitters even though I’ve done this five times this year and always had a great time. Tim was a positive influence on the lesson and his great attitude was evident. Steve was more the quiet, behind the scenes type and always there when you needed him.
We headed up to the “Snowflake” run and started pretty well as I slowly would turn right and left avoiding traffic when I could. We then encountered a portion of the run that flattened out and slowed down. Then all of a sudden BAM, I flipped over on my left. ”What the hell” is what I thought and Tim quickly apologized. He evidently stuck a rail and flopped out himself. One of the drawbacks of that type of instruction in slushy conditions. We recovered and worked our way back to the beginning of the lift. It’s all good.
We encountered our lift with Steve and Tim alongside. We embraced my wife, Rosanna, as we departed the lift and stopped to size up the run. I decided to get more speed as we headed down the hill. It’s easier to turn when you have some speed. BAM!! It happened again. I flipped over to the left again. Tim flipped over as well, sticking a rail, apologizing for it happening again.
I had every reason to be angry but from where I come from if it doesn’t have carnage, it’s not worth doing. Falling is a part of the fun!!! Thank you Brian, Tim and Steve for an awesome time in the mountains.
