Effing Freezing
So we’re here, and it’s cold. The plane did not go down in a ball of flames, fortunately. In fact, the flight was rather pleasant. My personal experience of the flight was still horrible, of course, but not because of anything outside my little head.
Here in Keystone it is very, very cold. Not only is the temperature below freezing, it’s not supposed to even approach freezing until approximately March. How people live in climates like this for more than a week at a time is beyond me.
Thermal underwear seems to be the key to surviving the weather. Any outfit is immediately made warm by the addition of an underlayer of the waffle-y stuff. Last night, when the temperature was zero degrees*, I saw a guy, presumably a local, walking into the supermarket wearing thermal underwear . . . and shorts. Thus I deduced that thermal underwear are both necessary and sufficient to prevent frostbite.
Today we skied. After five years off, I wasn’t sure if I’d remember how, but it’s coming back faster than I expected. Muscle memory is an amazing thing. The muscles themselves, on the other hand, are notably absent. Hoo boy, am I sore. I predict paralyzing stiffness tomorrow morning.
Did I mention that it’s cold here? Today’s high was 16 degrees down in the village, and several degrees colder on the mountain, I’m sure. A woman we rode the lift with said this was the best weather they’d had all week. Still, there were very few people out on the slopes, strange for Christmas weekend. We wondered where the people in all those cars we’d seen filling the roads and parking lots last night had gone. Until, that is, we stepped into the mountain-top restaurant. There they were! Fighting for tables, paying twelve dollars apiece for hamburgers, anything to get out of the bitter cold.
Everyone’s fingers, even those encased in awesome winter gloves, froze solid. Toes as well. At some point, I think, your body completely abandons the extremities, and no matter how thick your gloves and socks are, there just isn’t any warmth left.
The rest of me was comfortable enough, thanks to four layers of warm winter clothing, so it was bearable overall. Worth it? Absolutely. Skiing is so different from other sports, and so much fun. Would I complain if snow happened to stay frozen at sixty degrees instead of thirty-two? Helllllls no. But I’ll (temporarily) sacrifice the feeling in my fingers for the swoosh-swoosh of fresh powder.
John took his first lesson today and loved it. Tomorrow he wants to try it on his own, so I’ll be getting my teach on. Maybe I’ll ski backwards, like the instructors do. And maybe I’ll quickly fall on my ass and look ridiculous, since I’m no good at skiing backwards. In any case, it’ll be fun.
In conclusion, brrrrr. Cold cold cold.
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* Yes, that’s zero degrees Fahrenheit. Zero Celsius would be BLISS.
Tags: weather