By Skimum Valerie

FEAR.  It is my four letter word of the day.  I often wonder if I had learned to ski as a young child instead of a 30 something mother if I would have quite so much anxiety when I ski.  As much as I enjoy skiing the Lupine Loop trail in Mineral Basin on a sunny morning, I know that it is not going to make me the great skier I want to be.  Every now and again there needs to be a little fear – something to get me out of my comfort zone and that tests my skills and nerves.

So today the Skimums wanted to take the road less traveled and go off the beaten path.  Our ski Sherpa, Emilia, took us down skinny chutes, bumpy traverses, and crazy deep moguls.  As I suspiciously looked down over the edge of one particularly treacherous chute, I was convinced Emilia was trying to kill me.  I tried to remember all of the instructions she had been giving us about skiing moguls, “keep your hips open, shoulders downhill, and use a spring motion,” but her last inspiring admonition was “just point your skis downhill and go!”  So with much trembling and trepidation I pointed my skis downhill…and dropped into the chute of no return (That’s what I call it anyway).  And I’ll be honest, it wasn’t pretty.  In fact I’m pretty sure there was no grace or finesse involved at all.  But with my Skimums cheering me on, I slowly negotiated my way downhill.  I MADE IT!!   Looking back uphill at where we had been gave me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. Maybe it was the adrenaline or endorphins, but I was even up to doing it again!

As I spent the rest of the afternoon on some groomers I was amazed how much easier my skiing seemed.  My confidence was way up.   When I returned home from skiing that day, exhausted…but all in one piece, I felt like I could take on the world.  I was no longer just mom, I was Supermum, ready to take on whatever the day might bring!  Thanks Emilia for scaring me today and thanks Skimums for cheering me on.  You ladies are the best!