It seems easy to do when you watch downhill skiers on TV. It looks so natural, unless they take a tumble of course. Cross Country skiing came first and then the invention of tow lifts brought Alpine Skiing. The Swiss, Austrians and Italians have dominated the sport. A lot of young kids in the Alps can ski as soon as they can walk and ski to school everyday.
Olympic ambitions are left to the daredevils as most people ski as a leisure pursuit. Snowboarding, particularly popular with the young, has joined Alpine Skiing. Racing down slopes on planks of wood does seem a crazy thing to do. I have tried it and I know how thrilling it is. I have skied in Scotland in the fog and over sheer ice. I hit a sheet of ice one day and couldn't prevent myself from crashing into a picket fence. There was a log cabin at the top of the hill where they sold coffee, hot chocolate and snacks. The local herd of reindeer would come up to the cabin and feed from your hand. Yes Alpine Skiing is really amazing!
I had another great skiing experience in Austria. The weather and snow conditions were better there. There is nothing to beat Alpine Skiing when the sun shines and the snow glitters in the sunlight. I love Après Ski too and I remember drinking a lot of great wine. I stayed in a picture postcard village in a typical Alpine lodge. The village contained the most amazing church and was adorned with frescoes and gold. One night, my friends and I went to a local bar and I had rather too much schnapps. I suffered the next day and my Alpine Skiing had to be put on hold.
I would like to go skiing again and try to get better. They just open a very big dry slope near my home, which would be a good way to get back into it again. I might even take snowboarding lessons; You don't have to be young to have all the fun. We had a trip to Innsbruck when I was in Austria and we visited the old Winter Olympics site there. I went to the top and stood where was the ski jump slope, and the incline is amazing. You can't get any idea of what ski jumping is like from television. I am sure it must feel like flying sometimes. The only time that I ever flew was by pure accident!
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