Skiing under the Sun - South Korea

I have heard my friend,EY talks about going on an annual skiing trip and how the whole family enjoy skiing so much. It was a blank to me. I have never favors skiing in the cold.

During my South Korea tour, one of the itinerary was learning how to ski. It never cross my mind that I will be attempting the feat. My wife was suggesting to sit it out and we will opt for coffee and rest on our arm chairs at the skiing resort. That was our plan. But, our tour guide insisted all of us have to try it out. So, there was no choice. I know practically nothing about skiing but what the hell, let get on with it without destroying all the fun we were having during the trip.

By the way, Skiing is not a simple sport and you have to be well prepared. We need the entire dressing ie jackets, pants, boots, gloves, ski mask, gorgle, a pair of ski and poles. You will be surprised how heavy the clothings and the equipment will weigh. The pair of boots weigh like a ton and you cannot walk properly. It is really an energy sapping exercise.

The resort was at the Alpine Winter resort which host the 2008 winter olympic. The sun was shining very strongly but the temperature was freezing cold. At the resort, there were several hills fill with snow and each hills have different contours ie steep, the very steep and the steepest. I believe it is for different grades of skiing experts. Yes, I was at the bottom grade.

At the resort, there are hundreds or if not thousands of skiing fans. There are many hangers to bring the skiters up to the hill top and you could see them flying down the slope and enjoying themselves very much. Yeah, my tour guide who is also the teacher pull me up to a practice stretch which was about 50 feet up the slope from the bottom of the hill. She help to balance me and insisted that I keep my ski board at an A shape and then, she let go of me. My first Ski caused me to fall on my back as it was gaining enormous speed and I panic and try to stop. It was a bad stop. Surprisingly, I was not hurt. The snow actually break the fall. Yeah, also thanks to my yoga, otherwise, I will bave broken some bones. I tried 6 more times and it was very tiring to pick yourself up from a fall and bring the equipment and yourself up the hill for the next attempt. On my final attempt, I was able to stop without falling and make a 360 degree turn and went down hill to rest.

I was glad that I tried it and I know how difficult to prepare for the skiing and how those skiing fans enjoy the sport. It is the experience that counts despite all the falls and the scary fouls. There is a saying " we do not need to own it or love it. it is the experience which is enough for us".

Namaste.