Never been that good
Preface
Guess what!!
"What?"
I went skiing again...for the third time!! :)
Initial plan, we have 7 people going to Lake Tahoe, 5 to ski and 2 are going for sight-seeing only because they are Malaysians who have never seen snow before.
From bad to worse
Weather forecast doesn't show encouraging result, stating storm in the evening. Snow storm can be very dangerous if you're on the road, when road becomes icy and cars may skid easily. One requirement to drive on slippery road is to install snow chain. I've never heard of snow chain before my US trip, nor have I seen of one. It is a chain to install on the tire to increase grip of tire on the road. Scary from the sound of it...
At that night before the trip, one of the member suddenly withdraw (one of the sight-seeing ones). She withdrew because earlier that day, her colleagues in SJ told her about all the scary stuff that might happened on an icy road, such as when you step on brake how the car will drift because it's slippery, his past experience of driving in the snow, how he crashes when he overtook a truck and so on so forth. I felt scared too hearing her re-tell what her colleagues had told her. Couldn't blame her for withdrawing in the last minute because being a mother, she had to think of her little one.
That night during my 3hrs sleep (because have to wake up at 3am to start the journey to Lake Tahoe), I had a cramp on my left leg. The cramp is quite bad because after I've straighten it up, I still feel the pain on my calf. I haven't experience cramp for a very long time already, suddenly now get cramp...I take this as a bad sign. :(
This is not good I tell you. First the weather forecast, then the story from colleague and her withdrawal from the plan, next the cramp and lastly the rain. It was raining in San Jose and throughout half of journey, though not really very heavy. I kept thinking to myself while in the car, if this trip should have been canceled. I don't hope to have anything bad happen just a few days before I go back to Msia.
Our journey becomes worse when it was still drizzling when we were at 5000ft elevation. It was so cold that as soon as the rain hit windscreen and the wiper wipe it off, the drops of water on the windscreen turned into ice, and it blurred the driver's view. We had to keep spraying the windscreen with water to melt off the ice.
A change for good
Lucky for us, the weather gets better as soon as the sun starts shining. That is a great sign!
For this third time, I'm still going to ski in Northstar, same as for the last 2 times. Other well-known ski resorts in Lake Tahoe including Alpine, Sierra and Kirkwood.
Reaching The Village, Northstar at 8am, we proceeded with equipment rental and putting on ski boots. Snow storm the night before created 3inches of fresh snow. Fresh snow is so much more fun to ski compared to hardened snow that turns into ice. Out of the 5 person who wanted to ski, only 2 were first timers, so they went for their skiing lesson (which I have attended during my first and second trip last time). For the other 3 of us, we went straight to Bear Paw (which is the intermediate trail). I was with Dhillon and KS. Dhillon had skied before a few years ago, KS was just one month ago.
After 2 rounds at Bear Paw, we upgrade to Arrow trail. Arrow is a steeper and longer trail and is the highest class our package allowed us to take. We're taking the beginner package, so the available trail is also limited.
This time around, I actually performed a lot better than what I expected from myself. No more crashing into net barrier or enduring major fall. I am in control of my directions, turning left or right is not a problem at all, and I can stop when I want to. I can also avoid people who fell down. Because I can control my direction now, I can ski in 'S' shape. Skiing straight down will be too fast on steep terrain, so we need to ski in 'S' shape to slow ourselves down.
This time, I'm not busy falling down so I have more time to take pictures. It was sunny all day long, it would be perfect if there's some slight snowing but there wasn't. I'm also not as tired as previously and didn't sweat as much coz it takes lots of energy to stand back up with a ski attached.
Below is a photo of the starting point of Arrow trail. Snap this before going down the trail.
The resort closes at 4pm but we left at 3.30pm, trying to avoid the forecast snow storm in the late evening. On our way back to SJ, we didn't encounter any snow storm and the snow chain was not needed. Only that when we get near Bay Area when it was raining.
It was a safe trip after all.
Summary
There is no word to describe the satisfaction I felt from this trip. Couldn't remember when was the last time I'm so in control of myself in life (not only in skiing but in life). I'm glad that nothing bad had happened in this trip even though the beginning signs weren't too good. Although I would have wanted to experience how to put on snow chain and what it is like to drive in a car with the chain, but if snow chain is really needed then it means the road condition is real bad and we're in some kind of danger.
It is definitely a well-worth trip, which makes it my last skiing trip on my last weekend in San Jose.
Guess what!!
"What?"
I went skiing again...for the third time!! :)
Initial plan, we have 7 people going to Lake Tahoe, 5 to ski and 2 are going for sight-seeing only because they are Malaysians who have never seen snow before.
From bad to worse
Weather forecast doesn't show encouraging result, stating storm in the evening. Snow storm can be very dangerous if you're on the road, when road becomes icy and cars may skid easily. One requirement to drive on slippery road is to install snow chain. I've never heard of snow chain before my US trip, nor have I seen of one. It is a chain to install on the tire to increase grip of tire on the road. Scary from the sound of it...
At that night before the trip, one of the member suddenly withdraw (one of the sight-seeing ones). She withdrew because earlier that day, her colleagues in SJ told her about all the scary stuff that might happened on an icy road, such as when you step on brake how the car will drift because it's slippery, his past experience of driving in the snow, how he crashes when he overtook a truck and so on so forth. I felt scared too hearing her re-tell what her colleagues had told her. Couldn't blame her for withdrawing in the last minute because being a mother, she had to think of her little one.
That night during my 3hrs sleep (because have to wake up at 3am to start the journey to Lake Tahoe), I had a cramp on my left leg. The cramp is quite bad because after I've straighten it up, I still feel the pain on my calf. I haven't experience cramp for a very long time already, suddenly now get cramp...I take this as a bad sign. :(
This is not good I tell you. First the weather forecast, then the story from colleague and her withdrawal from the plan, next the cramp and lastly the rain. It was raining in San Jose and throughout half of journey, though not really very heavy. I kept thinking to myself while in the car, if this trip should have been canceled. I don't hope to have anything bad happen just a few days before I go back to Msia.
Our journey becomes worse when it was still drizzling when we were at 5000ft elevation. It was so cold that as soon as the rain hit windscreen and the wiper wipe it off, the drops of water on the windscreen turned into ice, and it blurred the driver's view. We had to keep spraying the windscreen with water to melt off the ice.
A change for good
Beautiful skyline as the sun rises
Lucky for us, the weather gets better as soon as the sun starts shining. That is a great sign!
For this third time, I'm still going to ski in Northstar, same as for the last 2 times. Other well-known ski resorts in Lake Tahoe including Alpine, Sierra and Kirkwood.
Reaching The Village, Northstar at 8am, we proceeded with equipment rental and putting on ski boots. Snow storm the night before created 3inches of fresh snow. Fresh snow is so much more fun to ski compared to hardened snow that turns into ice. Out of the 5 person who wanted to ski, only 2 were first timers, so they went for their skiing lesson (which I have attended during my first and second trip last time). For the other 3 of us, we went straight to Bear Paw (which is the intermediate trail). I was with Dhillon and KS. Dhillon had skied before a few years ago, KS was just one month ago.
After 2 rounds at Bear Paw, we upgrade to Arrow trail. Arrow is a steeper and longer trail and is the highest class our package allowed us to take. We're taking the beginner package, so the available trail is also limited.
This time around, I actually performed a lot better than what I expected from myself. No more crashing into net barrier or enduring major fall. I am in control of my directions, turning left or right is not a problem at all, and I can stop when I want to. I can also avoid people who fell down. Because I can control my direction now, I can ski in 'S' shape. Skiing straight down will be too fast on steep terrain, so we need to ski in 'S' shape to slow ourselves down.
On the Arrow express chairlift, down there are people skiing/snowboarding
This time, I'm not busy falling down so I have more time to take pictures. It was sunny all day long, it would be perfect if there's some slight snowing but there wasn't. I'm also not as tired as previously and didn't sweat as much coz it takes lots of energy to stand back up with a ski attached.
Another picture from the chairlift
Below is a photo of the starting point of Arrow trail. Snap this before going down the trail.
The amazingly beautiful mountain view from the starting point of Arrow trail
The resort closes at 4pm but we left at 3.30pm, trying to avoid the forecast snow storm in the late evening. On our way back to SJ, we didn't encounter any snow storm and the snow chain was not needed. Only that when we get near Bay Area when it was raining.
It was a safe trip after all.
Summary
There is no word to describe the satisfaction I felt from this trip. Couldn't remember when was the last time I'm so in control of myself in life (not only in skiing but in life). I'm glad that nothing bad had happened in this trip even though the beginning signs weren't too good. Although I would have wanted to experience how to put on snow chain and what it is like to drive in a car with the chain, but if snow chain is really needed then it means the road condition is real bad and we're in some kind of danger.
It is definitely a well-worth trip, which makes it my last skiing trip on my last weekend in San Jose.
Labels: Going places, Life in The States
posted by LieWei at 9:18 PM
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