I’m liking the new sport though it does have it’s moments of extreme drama. For example, today I was 15-minutes into my ski at Nose Hill when my hands went numb from the cold (when you get past the pain it’s a bad sign). I never seem to be able to find suitable gloves / mitts for winter sports. Having my finger tips and thumbs freeze is a problem that plagued me for years in cycling (and still does).
Regardless, I saw the immediate urgency of stopping my journey, turning around and heading back — all downhill. The descent was rather fast, and it would have been great except for one thing: I don’t know how to stop. Having numb hands was also making it incredibly difficult to concentrate. So, I did what any novice would do: I accidentally crossed my skis, plowed into a snow bank, and did the rest of the descent splayed out on my belly.
I think for now I’ll stick to the gentle and forgiving paths around our community or find a nice loving pre-cut golf course to ski around:
I bought myself some down filled mittens from LL Bean (they’ve got gloves, too) for about $35…first time my thumbs haven’t frozen when I’m walking home in -35 weather.
http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=51463&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&parentCategory=502992&feat=502992-tn&cat4=502977