Hitting the Slopes

It's late February, the time of year when most people are fed up with the cold and are more than ready for winter to finally be over. Most students may be dreaming of a far off day when they can leave the house wearing nothing more than flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt instead of taking 20 minutes to gear up for the -20 degree windchill. Those who were lucky enough to go down south for some sand and sun during Reading Break may be having an especially hard time coping with the snow and ice currently covering most of Canada. Although I can be sympathetic towards winter-hating people, I am definitely not one of them. I love everything about winter; from the frosty winds to the snowy slopes; from the ice-covered ponds to the freshly-groomed trails. I was extremely excited by the huge dump of snow we got last week, and am very happy to hear that more is on the way!

A great winter activity that I tried during last week's break for the first time in 8 years was downhill skiing. I learned the sport at age 4, but ever since discovering the thrill of snowboarding I gradually skied less and less, eventually stopping altogether. Until last week, that is. I decided to leave my board in Montreal and borrowed a pair of my sister's skis to hit the slopes of Mont Saint Marie, a hill about 1 hour North of Ottawa. I was told by friends and family that skiing is like riding a bike in that it is impossible to forget how to do it. I decided to take their word for it, hoping that this excursuion would not lead to another concussion.

With all of the fresh snow that fell last week, conditions were perfect. It was one of those ideal days, when everyone else in the world seems to be cooped up at school or work. We had the hill almost entirely to ourselves, and were constantly up and down the mountain doing as many runs as possible. I was a little rusty at first but my body quickly remembered what to do and soon I was speeding down the slope with more confidence. My only complaint came later in the day, when we were done skiing and had started heading towards the car. The walking made me realize quite quickly that my knees were killing me! Perhaps I overdid it a bit for the first time on skis is years. Despite the pain I felt for days afterwards, I enjoyed the experience enough to get excited about the sport again, and to begin looking forward to the next day at the hill.

If you are a winter-hater, I challenge you to challenge yourself and leave the comfort of your apartment for a day of skiing or snowboarding. There are so many great hills that are just outside the city, and only a few weeks left to enjoy them. Grab a few friends and convince them that speeding down a ski hill on a winter's day is one of the great pleasures in life that should not be passed up.

See you on the slopes!
- Martlet Girl

Ps: best of luck to all of the varsity teams who are currently in play-off mode!