Went skiing at Sugarbowl Saturday (Feb 17th). Did much better! I didn't fall getting off the chairlift once - even the high speed Jerome Hill one that fling you off. My body seems to have learned the routine: get off, lean forward (important as it's real easy to fall backward), and immediately go into a wedge turn. What a great confidence builder.

I did fall, but it was on the steep part of Pioneer trail which is not a beginner route there at all if you ask me. My taking a ski off to get up works really well for me. Once I just got up without taking a ski off but it's really difficult and puts quite a strain on the joints. But I didn't fall at all on the White Pine beginner area and didn't fall on the easier portions of Pioneer either in fact I was starting to enjoy the runs some even though my right leg wasn't always working.

I still turn left quite well and not so good on the right which requires the right leg to be unweighted so it can slide left to be with the other foot that's doing the work. So I wedge turn to the right (sort of) and wedge or parallel to the left.

I find that I'm wanting to lift my heel and move the uphill foot back which would be a sort of telemark position. I know that several mountaineer folks ski with Tele gear instead of Rado and the idea of having the option of a free heel is intriguing so sometime I should probably take a lesson in it either at one of the downhill resorts or at Royal Gorge who does a tele clinic.

I'm really catching this skiing bug. I think this Saturday I'm going up to Boreal to use their copious beginner routes, and then next time take a tele lesson. Or I could rent tele gear where the binding has the option of locking down the heel and take that to Boreal. But honestly I think I should just better at ordinary alpine skiing first.

I'm noticing that it doesn't just seem to be a right hamstring issue as I've been working so hard on the right one that I'm no longer as good at balancing on my left and being able to do that is important for turning right. I need to be able to unweight my right leg if I want to be able to shift it sideways for a right turn.

However all the walking around in ski boots is turning out to be great exercise for my legs and they are definitely stronger. This is the plus side of not being that efficient of a skiier as it's a great workout. The better you are the less effort it is.

One criticism of Boreal is that the lifts are too far apart, but that might work in my favor.