Houston, I've fallen, and I can't get up.

Today we went skiing. I'm not really sure why people go - it was completely exhausting. After 45 minutes we could barely stand up, and that was just putting on the boots. Now, it's natural that at least one of us would have some sort of affinity for skiing, and the other one might not. Unfortunately, although Bek has been graced with an ability to remain upright while skiing, I seem to prefer the ground. We started our on the learners course, where you could practise going in a straight line and turning (tiny little hills) and then moved on to the bunny hill to see if we could make it all the way down without breaking something. We should mention that this bunny hill was in fact the one that the ski instructors used to teach the kids. Little brats - there was a 3 year old in the group that could ski better than me. So I fell over a total of 5 times on the hill, as it took me a little while to grasp the concept of steering. It was indeed rather painful, and Bek and I have a small collection of bruises. Bek's injuries: 2 taboggan shaped bruises on the inside of her thighs, pulled triceps, and a cough. She also has some small bruises on her legs and some other sore muscles. My injuries: Sore muscles + a bumped head, some rather stiff ab muscles (apparently I have some), brusies on my legs, back and hip (tiny ones, not very visible) and a sprained knee and wrist. I also have an injury on my left wrist, but you can read about that in the embarrassing moment of the day.

We lasted 2 hours on the course, before having a desperately needed drink (no, not alcoholic - couldn't afford it) and then we crawled our way back onto the bus and back to the hotel. Somewhere in there we had lunch at a Swiss cafe, although I wasn't feeling so great so I didn't eat much of my vol au vent. We got back to the hotel at 3pm, and had a very long nap. We are very tired and sore, and I'm sure we'll feel it in the morning. We had a blast - it was so much fun! (although I think I may stay away from it in future) I was very impressed with Bek's turns and ability to actually slow down and stop, something I didn't manage very well. She did, however, run into a rope barrier and couldn't get back out from it - it was downhill. The ticket guy had to come out and rescue her. Now Bek's embarrassing part of the day - the ski lift. No, not one of those easy ones where it has a seat and you get carried up, one like a pole with a disc at the end. You pull the pole down towards you and sit on the disc, and it pulls you up the mountain with your skis on the ground. Sounds easy, right? Well Bek didn't really get the sitting down memo, and just grabbed onto it, and so was hanging on for dear life most of the way up, until it stopped about 3/4 of the way up and she could sit on it. Very amusing. Note: the reason it stopped was me.

This looks disappointingly unimpressive next to Bek's bruise, but rest assured it hurts just as much. Look closely - you can see it!

Embarrassing moment of the day:

Ok, feel free to laugh hysterically, and even feel sorry for me. I do. Both. So after stacking it spectacuarly several times on the way down, I was in a lot of pain and just wanted to go back up so I could hide somewhere. But the ski lift had other ideas. You see, you have your skis on your feet, and your ski poles in one hand, grabbing the pole thing with the other. I had the strap of my poles around my left wrist. Unfortunately, the pole thing was going really fast and I didn't get a good grip on it in time to sit on it properly, and began to be dragged up the mountain. Yes, I know. There were many witnesses. But wait, it gets worse. When I tried to let go, I found that my ski poles were wrapped around the pole thing and I couldn't get them off, or get them off my wrist. So I was dragged up the mountain a good 20 metres before someone noticed and stopped the machine (allowing Bek to regain her dignity, and use of her triceps - I'm kind like that). When they stopped it, I still couldn't free my wrist, and had to have one of the instructors come and help me, which was really nice, because she was very lovely and not judgemental. :) I had a large amount of snow somewhere in my clothes, and an impressive rope burn on my wrist. But wait, there's more. She convinced me to go back down to try again, and showed me how to not break my wrist while going up, and I even had help to get on it properly. I started off with my skis straight and heading in the right direction, face aflame. Unfortunately, about half way up my ski hit a rut and went sideways, flinging me off and dragging me up again. Yet again, they had to stop the machine, and by this point Bek was wondering where I was. The poor instructor felt so sorry for me, and carried my skis and poles up while I walked the rest of the way (no mean feat). I wasn't feeling up to a third go at humiliation. So perhaps that was why I wasn't feeling so fantastic at lunch.

Note: we did have a really great time. :) It was a fun experience.

(Sorry for the lack of bloggage - we have had little time, less internet, and even less sleep. This is from a couple of days ago, but we will get you up to date as soon as we can. That sounds very airportish, come to think of it)

p.p.s We also saw a small avalanche!! Very cool. And this weird cloud: