Monday, December 1, 2008

Let's Give Thanks for Sharp Edges, and Dave Lyon!


Thanksgiving Day was my first day back on skis since August, and in that time, I've been bashing up my body pretty hard, what with the hundred million falls off the bike, the bad knee wreck, and the car accident, I was pretty worried about how the heck it was going to come together! My balance has been coming slowly back, its no where NEAR what it was in the accident, and of course, there is still the ever present headache and neck and back pain, BUT...

I got out on my skis on Thursday for opening day at Aspen Mountain and was shocked and thrilled to discover that I do indeed remember how to ski, and also to discover that what I learned in Race Camp not only STUCK, but has fundamentally changed the way I understand skiing in all kinds of terrain and snow.

Dave, Mt. Hood for me this summer was a transformative experience, and I can't thank you and Tammi enough. There were so many disparate elements in my skiing that needed so much work, and now I feel like I have a deeper understanding of fundamentally what I am trying to ask my body to do, and I can work it more as a unit, rather than focusing on feet and forgetting hands or core.

I still have miles and miles and miles to go, but it was amazing to get into the BUMPS we were skiing on Friday (Amazing, there were only 6 inches of man made snow the day before, then Friday comes and it just dumps all day, we skied wet powdery bumps all afternoon), and to realize that all the movements I learned in race camp, combined with my day of powder/bump skiing with Squatty last June made something just CLICK.

It was an amazing experience to come not just off the bench, but off the hospital bed, and have another best day on skis. Falling asleep to Just Good Skiing 5 and reading the books that Squatty and Kurt have been showing me has been helpful, too!

I can't wait to see what happens when my body is whole and healthy!

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