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cityweekend

Describe your first snow sporting experience. Best storie wins the package!

9 months, 1 week ago

tristamarie

Define snow sport. Cuz I tell ya, no amount of downhill or X-country expertise beats a full-blown snowball fight or the building of an Olympic-caliber snowman. Yes, Olympic caliber. How you ask? Well, back home in Canada, the land of snow and more snow, we decided to have a snow ball war after a few feet (yes, snow up to your mid-thigh) had fallen. It was about 8 on 8 and competition was tense. Then, to decide the winner, two of the guys decided to see who could roll the largest snowball. Both having completed snowballs that were about 1.5 meters high, we decided to take it to the next level by putting one on top of the other and creating a giant snowman. We had to build a ramp out of snow and an old door to roll one snowball onto the other and had to brace the ball to prevent it from rolling back as the others frantically packed snow around the middle to keep it there (some wayward passersby ran over to help in the effort--Olympic spirit I tell you). Then, after climbing on top of the snowman to position its head and hat, we leaped up to grab some "arms" from the obliging branches of nearby trees, a carrot and some stones for a nose, eyes and mouth, a scarf, and voila ... a 12-foot (4 meter) snowman. Forget the Olympic gold, people were talking about that snowman all over campus all winter. That, is a snow sport.

9 months, 1 week ago

ogdred_weary

I had a huge crush when I was a pre-teen on the school cross country ski chap - he was so dreamy, but so not into me. I wanted to catch his attention at one of his "meets" or whatever they were called. I had to dress cool, so I wore little white Ked sneakers (these were the style back in the '80s) with no socks, because that would have looked bad, and with tight jeans folded up and cuffed snug around my ankles, as was the style. I stood around in freezing snow trying to affect a blase cool kid pose and make the ski dude notice me, but I ended up getting frostbite in my little toe and had to see a doctor; the ski dude never noticed me except when everyone was laughing at me in the school cafeteria the next day when I was limping on one foot.

9 months ago

gtmojo

You’re a New Yorker, born and raised out in the city. Gets around by trains and yellow cab and the only green around are the bills pulled out for purchases at Macy's or the green you see at Brooklyn's Prospect Park. When it snows, the city shuts down; the mayor goes on and closes school due to heavy snow. I was 14 and my family to the big leap...

SKI VACATION AT HUNTER MONUTAIN!!

Hunter Mountain is an average ski resort in Upstate New York. There's no Nordic here, there's no Vasaloppet... or what ever the heck you call it... But there are plenty of city folks and this city folk, and I’ve already hit puberty folks, was the only teenager on the bunny slope next to five rugrat, barney the dinosaur loving, 4-5 year old, preschool kids who all skied better than your truly, who never touched skis, let alone barely played in the snow.

I have to add, I'm black and I was 5'9 at the time... Oh yeah... I was obvious.

Anyway, I learned and tried making triangles with my skis and placing my boot laced feet in and out of those wretched snow gliding sticks and mastered all the basics to develop a fine skier. In one morning, I learned skiing...

Then there was the afternoon and my older godbrother D (I will leave the full name out to protect the innocent), who was 24 at the time, aware of my success, wanted me to try: "THE BLACK DIAMOND".

I didn't understand what a black diamond was; my only thoughts were pawned jewelry or a diamond-- that was the color black... But he's my older godbrother, he's so cool, and I looked up to him then and looked up to him now, so I went for the black diamond.

We both got on the ski lift and I noticed we were going up a mountain, I thought we would get off in 10 seconds, but instead, we went higher and higher and higher, until the bunny slope I so easily mastered faded into a patch of green plastic padding on top of white snow faded away...

I was as tall as the trees I tell you!!! The trees! The black diamond is a difficult mountain... What is this???

We reached the top of the mountain, and I was going to pee my pants... and it wasn't from all the hot chocolate...

"READY SET GO!" and my god brother pushed me down and quickly got my bearings together, by that time, D already passed me and was headed on back to the bottom. I got into my triangle stance glided across the mountain... avoiding any trees and people in the process. I fell several times, but picked my self up, brushed off the snow and headed for the bottom.

By this time, I nearly finished decent.

I took my poles and push my way towards the base of the slope, pushing... pushing... pushing, until... I made it to solid, flat ground!!!

But I forgot to stop and ran into the same bunny slope kids I learned to ski with earlier in the day.

Every year (or every other year) I try to participate in skiing, if I can, but I'll never forget the day that teenage from The Big Apple hit "The Black Diamond".

9 months ago

sjn819

Really exciting news! Bring me back to the days when i was in Dalarna. Great!!! I will share it with all my friends!

8 months, 3 weeks ago