Chapter 61: Learning a New Skill

When I reached the tow ropes, I found Angelique standing there staring at the moving ropes. She seemed confused as to how to grab the ropes.

I smiled and patted her on the head. "Put your poles in your left hand and grab my jacket with your right," I told her.

She did as I instructed. I looked down to check that her skis faced forward and were parallel to mine.

"Watch me. I'll grab the rope and it will take both of us up the hill. Next time you'll know how to do this," I said.

Angelique nodded warily. I turned back and snatched the next handle that came by on the tow rope. There was a slight tug, and then I was being dragged up the hill. Angelique gasped, but then started giggling as she was carried along beside me.

When we neared the top I told Angelique to let go and try to turn a bit to the left. I felt her weight leave and then released the rope. I had trouble turning and ended up facing partly up the hill. The instructor seemed unsurprised by this.

"I see you all made it up here," she said a moment later. "Now, you need to face down the hill. There are several ways to do this, but for now, just set your feet with your toes in and take small steps until you face downhill. Keep your toes in and heels out, or you'll end up sliding down the hill."

I followed her instructions. It took a bit of practice to avoid crossing my skis, but finally I was facing downhill. I could see that Erica and Jana were a bit below me on the hill and to my right, while Angelique was just to my left.

The instructor smiled. "Now, my name is Lauren. Sorry I didn't introduce myself before, but I find it works better to get everyone moving first. If you have a question, don't be afraid to shout. With a group this size I'll probably be going too fast for some of you. Now, I showed you how to slow down. For this run, just try sliding straight down by adjusting your feet. Don't try to turn or use your poles. Just practice controlling your speed. When you get to the bottom, you can head back to the tow ropes for another run.

I felt a slight breeze as Maurice passed me. "This is easy," he bragged. I noticed that his skis were almost parallel as he sped up and headed down the hill.

Maurice's action got everyone moving. I passed Angelique a moment later. The little girl was shrieking merrily as she slowly accelerated down the hill.

Angelique's laughter grew louder when Maurice tried to stop and crossed his skis. My friend ended up spinning in a circle and the crashing into the snow.

Maurice managed to stand back up, but he had to pick up his skis and set them down so he could step into them. The rest of us passed him on the slopes. I wound up being the first one down and waited for Angelique thinking I would need to help her, but she raced to the tow rope and grabbed the first handle she could.

Angelique's example galvanized the rest of us. We started a cycle of riding the rope to the top and then sliding back down. As we cycled Lauren would occasionally stop by and make suggestions or provide insight. The first thing she pointed out was that we could turn by putting weight on the foot we wanted to be on the downhill side. Maurice got crossed up by this. He kept thinking that he had to put weight on his left leg to turn left.

I was working on this when Erica came flying past me. She had her feet next to each other and was crouching down to try to get more speed. "Erica!" I heard Jana call out in a panicked voice.

Erica was near the bottom, and I saw the back of her skis start to spread out. Unfortunately, she must have cross the tips, because she did a half turn and then tumbled into the snow. I could see her roll over as her skis popped off her boots.

Immediately I brought my feet together and started skiing for the fallen girl. I aimed just to her left and as I passed her fallen body tried to turn to the right. My ski threw up some snow, but I came to a halt just downhill from Erica.

Erica crawled to her knees. The girl was smiling and laughing. "It doesn't hurt!" she cried out. She stared at me for a moment and then dove at me throwing her hands around my waist and knocking me to the snow. "It doesn't hurt!"

"Hey! Hands off my man!" I heard Ashley call from just below us on the hill.

I helped Erica to her feet and the used my poles to get my body vertical. Erica had to take a moment to retrieve her skis, so I headed to the bottom. The rest of the group had just arrived and were standing and watching.

Ashley came over and put a hand on my shoulder. "You left us alone," she said accusingly.

From the top of the hill we heard an excited girl cry out. "Mommy! Watch this!"

I turned around worriedly. Angelique was starting down the hill. She accelerated slowly as she made her way down the slope.

"Mark?" Lenore asked. She used her poles to ski near me. "Is she safe?"

Angelique made it down the hill with ease and then stopped right in front of her mother. "This is fun!" she squealed.

"It's only been an hour," Lenore said wistfully. "She's doing so well."

Lauren came over and looked at everyone. "I'm guessing this is the rest of the group."

Morgan arrived from the slope. He nodded to Ashley and Lenore before turning to Lauren. "Yes, this is the rest of our group. What do you recommend at this point?"

Lauren looked and watched as Jana and Erica came down the slope. "I think the first group needs a longer and steeper slope," she said.

"Where?" I asked.

Lauren pointed to the main lodge. "There are two cable car setups. Either one will take you to the beginner area above us. I'd recommend staying on the beginner lifts for now, but the first group should be fine there. I'll probably have this group ready to join you in an hour or so."

"Can we?" Angelique asked me.

I smiled and put a hand on her head. "We'll wait for them up there!" I proclaimed as I used my other hand to point up the mountain. "Come, let us be off!"