Ski school is in session!

A class picture: Esther, me, Kristy and Josh


Esther teaching Josh how to turn


How Kristy stopped at the bottom of the slope

(story added 29 January 2005)
I finally have time to share the fun and adventures the Consultants had on our ski adventure!

The whole thing started when we decided to stay in Pennsylvania for an extra day after our Winter Retreat to hang out and spend some quality time together. We discussed Philadelphia, NYC, DC and a few other possibilities before someone mentioned skiing. Even though two of our four had never braved the slopes before, we agreed that that would be our destination of choice.

So Saturday morning, we bundled up and loaded ourselves in the car to drive to a small ski slope Kristy and Josh had found that offered very reasonable beginners' packages. A couple of hours later, as we're driving through low hills with not even a hint of snow, we arrive at Blue Marsh Ski and run into a major problem: there is no snow on the ski slope! It hadn't even been cold enough in recent days to make the stuff. So here we are, all dressed up (in our ski pants, I might add) with nowhere to go. After much debate, we decided to do some exploring to find somewhere else to ski.

A couple of hours and a few interesting phone calls later, we finally made it to Camelback Ski Resort, and proceeded to have a fantastic afternoon and evening!! As the sun went down, it got progressively colder and colder, but the slopes were awesome, and the variety of runs was great. But first things first...after renting our equipment, it was time for me and Esther to show Kristy and Josh how to put everything on correctly, and how to get started. This was an adventure in itself, as neither Esther nor I are what you would call expert skiers. We just happen to have done it a few times before. For example, I've been skiing since 1992, but I only ski about once every three or four years. But I think our sentiment was, if we can teach brothers to do the things they do, surely we could teach Josh and Kristy how to ski. I mean, we can guarantee they're intelligent, and were pretty sure they would listen to what we said. I even saved them the embarrasment of being the first to fall...as we were ski-walking over to the run, my skis got tangled and down I went.

So there we are at the top of the easiest run on the mountain, and I find myself using Josh's quotes from South Park to explain the positioning of her skis to Kristy: big slices of pizza are good, but french fries are scary. In other words, the more parallel your skis, the faster you're going to go. While she took my words to heart, once she started down the mountain, she french-fried out and went zooming down the slope. Although I tried to catch up to her to help her stop at the bottom, I wasn't quite fast enough (I am only a beginner); but she figured out the easiest way to stop all on her own - she fell.

The rest of the day was just as amusing. We could pick Josh out on the slopes by what became his signature crouch; Kristy became quite adept at taking her skis off so she could stand back up; and I think we would all agree that the lodge's hot chocolate was just the thing to warm us up over dinner. In fact, the only downside to the day (aside from the guy skiing past Kristy and grabbing her ass) was my camera deciding not to work, which prevented us from recording the last laugh of the day: after Josh and Kristy had braved the more difficult beginners' slope a couple of times, we prepared for one last trip down the "bunny slope" to celebrate everyone's success. As we approached the top of the run, Josh and I collided, ending up in a tangled heap. It was the perfect way to end our day, and concluded our adventure with some laughs. It never fails...we always find a way to amuse ourselves!