The alarm went off and I was dead to the world. The first thought that entered my head was, “Well, here we go, the big day has arrived.” I staggered over to the widow and looked out. A grey day, not snowing, overcast. It looked brutal up there; hard as concrete. Still, I felt pretty good. I’d had about nine hours sleep and it really does knit up the ravelled sleeve of care. My sleeve, this morning, was sporting nary a hole or even a broken thread.
Breakfasted over at the Huntley Lodge which wasn’t too bad. Found some muesli buried among the pancakes and syrup and donuts. Who eats donuts for breakfast? God, Americans eat a lot of junk, even for breakfast. A nation as rich as this and they all eat like peasants, albeit peasants with a sugar addiction. Coffee was undrinkable but I expect that now.
Came back to my room and collected the myriad of gear, trying not to leave anything behind. It was a curious feeling stepping out into the cold wind once again, skies over my shoulder, hearing my boots crunch on the snow. “How may times have I done this?” I thought. It was very familiar. This was strangely reassuring. My guide turned out to be a diminutive, American woman, Laura Herr, in her 50’s. She reminded me of Louise Stevenson, same height and build but less cheeky and more respectful. She was very much into post-surgical rehab. This is her first season back on the mountain after suffering a fractured fibula, broken ankle and torn ankle tendons. Run down by a snowboarder last winter. Screws in her ankle but no plate. When she described the accident I was amazed she wasn’t killed. We swapped a lot of war stories on the chair lift. Like me, she had been skiing continuously for 40 years without incident and then – bang – she cops a big one. She had the screws out before the season started so she could get a ski boot on. Little bit of residual pain on steep slopes and very apprehensive when she hears a snowboarder looming behind her. Understandably.
Getting it done – Day 1 Big Sky, Montana. So far , so good
Anyway we started up the Ramcharger Quad and onto an easy blue groomer called Pondersoa, which became the first slope I’ve skiied down since breaking my leg. Not bad. No pain so we kept at it. Ended up skiing solidly for 3 hours. I had an ache in the Patella tendon, just below my kneecap but Belinda had told me to expect this. No pain from the plate even when I leaned hard into a turn on that side.
After Laura clocked off I had a quick coffee…Yuck, it would kill your old brown dog on a chain, and kept going. Became acquainted with mellow runs like Elk Park Ridge and Big Horn. They are only blues so I haven’t let the dog out yet, but they were fun to ski without any pain. Surprised myself and kept going until 3pm – that’s 5 hours of skiing on the first day. Much more than I had expected and surprisingly, my quads weren’t sore which is unusual for a first day’s outing. Maybe I’m fitter than I thought or maybe Belinda’s exercises have done the trick. Either way I’ve realised that If I want to keep skiing I’ll be in the gym for the rest of my life. I also realise that I wouldn’t be here expect for Belinda – She who must be obeyed – was worth every cent I paid her.
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- Getting ready to put skies on for the first time. I remember when Catherine was in this position in Japan. It took her about an hour. I now realise what she was going through
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- So brave on the green runs. I should get a medal for performing on such flat terrain
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- Typical Montana scenery
wow KK – well done! So pleased that you are having such fun at the end of your tough year of rehab. Really excited for you.
Thanks Naomi. Hope all is progressing well with motherhood. That is the hardest task of all
Kieran, not much I can say. As always I am in awe of the tasks that not only you set, strive for but ultimately achieve.
Pictures say a 1000 words. Reading and seeing what & where you are gives me pangs of envy in so much that skiing is a sport that I could have taken to 20-30 years ago and probably enjoyed immensely. I can only experieince through your written words and the pics. Keep them coming.
Den
Denise,
Yes I wish you had taken up skiing and maybe I could have won another bottle of wine from you. Imagine the battles we would have had on some terrifying, back country slope. On second thought, you probably would ski like you swim and I would get an arse kicking. It is futile for someone like me to challenge athletes like you at any sport. Longer term there is only one outcome.
Kieran
Kieran you are brave and fearless! Fantastic!! Andy
Andy
Probably neither. Just determined. Hope all is going well with you.
Kieran
Very envious Kieran, sounds like a very cruisy first day, I never doubted your extreme rehab, the sort only an Olympian ( don’t get a swollen head) would need to undergo. The second day probably steeper until you realize you are the fittest you have ever been. Wish I was there with you.
Roz,
I wish you were here too. There are some runs here I know you would enjoy. This would be a good place for us to come on one of our group holidays. There are plenty of mellow green and blue groomers, some fantastic single black diamonds and some runs that terrify me sitting in the chairlift looking at them. I have not stood in a queue once here. there is no big city nearby so the place is deserted. I’ve had some afternoons where I’m the only person on the mountain. Solitude is great but ti would be nice to have some friends to share it with.
Great to see you back on the snow Kieran. Well done in getting yourself ready to ski again. Nothing reckless please!!
Barry,
Don’t worry, If I hurt myself I’m not coming back to Australia
I am really happy for you Keiran, I love hearing of people overcoming obstacles and adversity and loving life 🙂
Megan,
Can’t let the speed bumps slow you down.
Be careful Kieran. You have to empty your own pee bottle next time….
No mate you are the pee bottle master…I would never take that job away from you
Phew . Well Done KK
Step one done- clip in the boots and slide on off the hill
Step 2 – get back to previous skill level ( won’t take long)
Step 3 – improve!!
Which leads to
Step 4 – worry about how much better I am now
Heehee
Lou
Lou
How much better you are than me is the force which drives me on. Fear of humiliation is a very powerful motivator. Thank you for your assistance in my recovery.
Great news that you are back at it. Maybe not the double blacks for a while ?
It is hard getting back on the horse that bucked you, so well done, and of course all the rehab.
We are envious of you skiing on the good snow this year.
Have a great time.
Ron
Ron,
Thanks hasn’t been easy, but I’m getting there. Doing pretty well on the single blacks but haven’t had the heart for the doubles yet. This a big spectacular mountain. typical Rocky Mountains scenery and because it’s not near a city it is virtually deserted.
Since I’ve been here on my own I’ve amused myself in the evening with a project of listening to all the old Electric Light Orchestra songs. I bought a biography of the band and Jeff Lynne while in LA airport and have been listening to the songs on iTunes as they are mentioned in the book. I loved them back in the 1970s when I was living in London. It has been a trip down memory lane for me. They packed some many orchestral instruments into their productions, and the music is so multi layered, I could never get sick of listening to them. I envy you, and them, the ability to play music. You are very fortunate.
Kieran
There is so much good music which can be forgotten unless someone revives it. I remember ELO having some good hits. They had all kinds of instruments including violins but I don’t think they had saxes !
Can you believe our small band is working up a new arrangement of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five from the 60’s, and I am confident the older members of our audiences will appreciate.
I am off on our annual cycle tour next week to Bright and Beechworth then over to Thredbo for the country music festival, then a MTN bike down the new trail to Bullocks Flat.
Enjoy the snow.
Ron
Ron,
Saxes were only used right near the end. they were very big on the use of the Cello in their arrangements. Amazing how fresh their music still sounds. I’ve got a recoding of Brubeck’s Take 5. Great stuff. Sure the audience will appreciate it.
Good luck on the bike ride.
Kieran