Skiing at Cochran

Today, for the first time ever, I tried downhill skiing.  Hooray for my 30/30 list!

I’ve lived in Vermont for over a year now, so you could say the trip was a little overdue!

After a bit of research on the different skiing options in Vermont (and there are many!) Hubs, friends, and I planned a trip to Cochran Ski Area.  

Reasons Cochran Ski Area won our ski area research:

Price

For $60 each we were able to pay for a day pass that included a group lesson, boot rental, ski rental, and helmet rental.  The day pass also include your “lift” ticket.  I put the word lift in quotations because the system at Cochran is one where you grab onto a piece of plastic attached to a rope and hold on as you are pulled up the hill.  It isn’t a traditional chair lift system, but it worked just fine!

Location

We were able to drive to this location in less than 30 minutes (This is just one reason I love Vermont…you can be outside in the mountains and nature so easily!)

Mission

Okay, so we didn’t read the mission statement of each ski area and really make our decision based on this, but it is worth noting that Cochran is a non-profit organization that was founded by Mickey and Ginny Cochran (a family of skiing Olympic medalists) to provide families with affordable skiing and snowboarding so that “no child will be denied the opportunity to ski or ride.”  That is pretty cool.  I feel good giving business to such an organization!

Although there wasn’t much snow out on the streets today, there was snow at Cochran.  The weather was perfect --  sunny and 33 degrees.

I’ll admit I was really nervous going into this.  I had been thinking about this planned trip all week.  I was mostly nervous about getting hurt or injured.  I’m not the most coordinated, athletic, or graceful person.  So I was a little concerned.  I was also worried about being in a ski lesson with children and finding it a bit embarrassing.  While there were MANY children and young families at Cochran, our group lesson had only 6 people (4 in our party) and 2 older teenagers.  It was an ideal group.

After bundling up in snow pants, jackets, and scarves we got fitted for ski boots and skis.  Ski boots are TIGHT!  Once those were on, they were on for the day and learning to walk in them became mandatory.  I felt a little gangster walking around in them at first since they shift your weight forward. 

We had lunch at the lodge and then headed to the bottom of the bunny hill to meet our ski instructor.  While waiting one of our friends showed us how to put our skis on.  This is where things got hilarious and a bit nerve wracking. 

After getting hooked into my skis I started to slide away from the group and I couldn’t stop.  Cue the wiping out in the most awkward ways. Oh. My. Gosh.  I literally had to snap out of my skis and wait for the instructor to give more guidance.  It was so hard to just hold footing without sliding away somewhere!

The instructor turned out to be the instructorS.  As I mentioned, there were only 6 people total in our group lesson, which mean 3 people for each instructor.  We split into two groups and started learning the basics.

First lesson:  How to fall

There are many ways to fall and get back up.  This was a very helpful and probably the thing I practiced most today.  Falling and getting back up!

Second lesson:  How to stop

This is where we practiced the “snow plow” move to slow down and stop.  I still haven’t mastered this without crossing the front of my skis.  Ski instructors that were giving private lessons with small children kept asking the children to “make the pizza slice.”  This is a more child friendly way of saying “snow plow.”  "Snow plow" is a ski-way of saying, slow down and stop.  Essentially you try to keep your knees close together and your heels pressed outward making the shape of a pizza slice between your skis.

Here is a picture of me trying to “snow plow.”

Third lesson:  How to shift your weight to turn and zig zag

This was a lesson on shifting your weight to move diagonally across the hill.  This is where skiing starts to get fun.

My best run of the day was toward the very end of my lesson when I started at the top of the bunny hill and mastered the zig zagging down the hill without falling and came to a nice stop at the bottom.  It felt SO GOOD to have a successful run after so many times falling!

Sadly, after that good run, things never went quite that well again.

We all took a break at the lodge for hot chocolates and granola bars before heading out to the bunny hill for a few more runs for the day.

A few more runs and a few more falls.  Then it was time to go.

During the ski lesson the ski instructors said that if you feel like you want to go 1-3 more times it’s a good time to stop because that means you are tired and if you keep going you might get hurt. 

They are right.  Those last few runs were probably the least graceful.  I was definitely tired.  Tired and HAPPY!

Skiing was fun! I am already anxious to get out again to keep practicing the basics and build up some strength.  Who would have guessed that I would have had so much fun?

Also, for the record, the best way to have your first time ever downhill skiing is to share the experience with other friends that are on the same learning curve!  We were able to encourage each other and laugh together through all the craziness.