Watching the Winter Olympics reminded me of the time I took up Downhill Skiing.
I don't remember how it all started, maybe I saw an Ad somewhere, a newstory, or just the fact that my folks lived several miles from a Ski Lodge, but I started downhill ski lessons.
It wasn't any ordinary lessons, I was with a School that taught people with various disabilities. I had 2 instructors doing one-on-one with me. There were other students with their own instructors who used a Mono-Ski, or modified ski poles for balance, etc. I had the "standard" ski set with no modifications.
The lessons were mainly an instructor instructing me by lipreading what needs to be done, one instructor then went ahead and showed me, I followed close behind mimicking their moves, and the second instructor following behind to see if I was doing it right. At the bottom on the slope the second instructor would tell me corrections, etc. and everything would repeat, building up on skills and speed.
I took these lessons for, I think, 3 or 4 winters. I was zooming down black diamond hills by the end, speeding by sighted people. It was fun, exhilarating and liberating at the same time. I even broke my tailbone skiing once. I misjudged the distance to do a "hockey-stop" beside my instructor, and crash landed right on the side of my ski blade.
I don't know why I stopped, either because I was unemployed at the time and couldn't afford lessons, the interest faded, or I went on to something else. I won't be going skiing anytime soon, it's been over 20 years since I last strapped them on, then there's Oklahoma, with few hills and few snow Heh.
So don't be afraid to try something new! You didn't know a crazy Deafblind woman would be a ski bum eh?
Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon
I don't remember how it all started, maybe I saw an Ad somewhere, a newstory, or just the fact that my folks lived several miles from a Ski Lodge, but I started downhill ski lessons.
It wasn't any ordinary lessons, I was with a School that taught people with various disabilities. I had 2 instructors doing one-on-one with me. There were other students with their own instructors who used a Mono-Ski, or modified ski poles for balance, etc. I had the "standard" ski set with no modifications.
The lessons were mainly an instructor instructing me by lipreading what needs to be done, one instructor then went ahead and showed me, I followed close behind mimicking their moves, and the second instructor following behind to see if I was doing it right. At the bottom on the slope the second instructor would tell me corrections, etc. and everything would repeat, building up on skills and speed.
I took these lessons for, I think, 3 or 4 winters. I was zooming down black diamond hills by the end, speeding by sighted people. It was fun, exhilarating and liberating at the same time. I even broke my tailbone skiing once. I misjudged the distance to do a "hockey-stop" beside my instructor, and crash landed right on the side of my ski blade.
I don't know why I stopped, either because I was unemployed at the time and couldn't afford lessons, the interest faded, or I went on to something else. I won't be going skiing anytime soon, it's been over 20 years since I last strapped them on, then there's Oklahoma, with few hills and few snow Heh.
So don't be afraid to try something new! You didn't know a crazy Deafblind woman would be a ski bum eh?
Tracy,
"One finds limits by pushing them" ~ Herbert Simon
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