Eye of Modok

I had a great day skiing at Nanshan Ski Village in Miyun County, Beijing. I’m by no means a great skiier, so I didn’t really need much of a challenge to be satisfied. I was happy just to discover that the skills I picked up through the five or six times I’ve been skiing in my life were intact and my body is in reasonably good shape, so I eagerly took to the slopes, even trying to go as fast as possible down the intermediate slopes.

My single attempt at the very top black run was a disaster. The hill was quite steep, so when I inevitably fell, I slid down at least 30 meters. My ski remained up the slope. After a few attempts to even move without sliding further, I didn’t relish climbing up to get it. Fortunately I was spared the effort thanks to the benevolence of a skilled skier who kindly brought it down for me. All attempts to put my skis back in the bindings failed on a hill that steep, so I had to suffer the ignobility of sliding down the remaining 300 meters or so to the bend on my behind. Actually, I really enjoyed sliding down the hill. I really picked up speed because I had on a decent pair of Marker ski pants on that I got when I volunteered for the 2002 Olympics and Paralympics and they almost seemed made for butt-skiing. I spent the rest of the afternoon happily speeding down the intermediate slopes after that. Considering the unseasonably warm weather it was like spring skiing and I didn’t let up all day. I definitely hope to go again soon.