Skiing at Mount St Louis Moonstone

Date #779 — Saturday, January 16th, 2016

B: It was our first of 7 confirmed trips to Mt. St. Louis Moonstone (MSLM) — a “mountain” 2 hours North of Toronto — with the UofT Ski and Snowboard Club (UTSSC). I was so excited to go.

I was also overwhelmed. After packing up all my snowboard stuff we had to go to MEC to get A’s ski’s (which were being fitted) and then back up to where we would catch the bus. It was tough travelling around with all that gear, in our snowpants and coats, in the city that was much warmer.

I was getting frustrated and the skis were falling and I was trying to be patient. Despite this I started getting upset with A and then eventually had a tantrum on the street and A walked away. I followed behind her to the bus. When I caught up I apologized and she said, “I’m still angry. I won’t be eventually, but I need time.” So I tried to give her space.

The bus was filled and we chatted with people we met on the social night. The group passed timbits around and we watched some awesome skiing videos.

Then, at the hill, we got our passes, got a locker, and got A to her lesson. I waited with A and tried to give her confidence. I offered to wait, but her and the instructor said I could go. I came back in an hour and A was doing amazingly well! She’s been skiing on the larger green runs instead of the training runs.

The rest of the night I stayed with her and marvelled at how quickly she was picking everything up. What was interesting was the difference between her confidence level and ability. I could tell that she could trust more in her ability but was holding back.

Going forward my plan is to help her build that confidence. I think that’s all people need some time. We’re going a bunch this season, so we’ll see…

A: The last and only time I went skiing was to Mount St. Anne in Quebec on a french-immersion trip in grade 11. It was amazing: 5 days of skiing and lessons on the first two days. Well, here we are 10 years later back on the hill. I had lessons through the ski club we joined and then after going down the kinder hill twice my teacher said, “Okay, I think we can go on the chair lift.” I was all for it. Why not! What’s the worse that could happen? I fall off the chair lift? Likely the worst. We were going on green hills here. I did well, doing a green hill a couple times with pointers and then we met back up with B and did it again before my lesson was over.

After my lesson we thought the Packers game was on so we ate dinner (we packed an amazing lunch box so we didn’t have to eat the gross-looking ski lodge cafeteria food) but the game was 8:15 so we went back out. We did a smaller hill so I could get used to it a bit more and then it began to snow! A lot! It was so fun, but the powder slowed us down and I worked way harder trying to push myself through the snow than actually skiing. Funny how that works. B was laughing about it. “Now, speed up a lot here!” and I was like, “WHY!!!” but then I stopped on the hill. That’s why! lol….. I loved skiing with B. And B is a really good snowboarder! So impressed. I can’t wait to go back.

The worst part was totally embracing the winter wonderland and coming back to the city where it looked like Spring. It was a strange feeling but being on those hills in the blizzard having fun is enough to redefine winter for you. It was so much fun. I’m so happy B and I are two peas in a pod like this, because we’ll go on so many adventures for the rest of our lives!!

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