My host mom (HM) brought me to Sörenburg to ski. Since the whole family can ski, I just borrow gears from them.
My host mom lent me ski boots, ski trousers, ski socks, ski gloves, a ski helmet and a ski jacket. And also of course the skis and the sticks. I love the ski trousers. It's just a plain black pants, but I love the cutting. The ski boots were a pain to get them on, and it weighs a ton!! (figure of speech there, mind you)
So we packed our stuff and we started our 30 minutes drive to Sörenburg. The road there is very very narrow, but seriously, Switzerland people's driving skills are simply AWESOME. They could drive so fast at what back in Malaysia would be a single lane, but it was actually a double lane here. They can drive so close to the cliff and so close to the wall and avoid the incoming cars.
When we arrived, the hill was crowded. We went into the ski office, cause my HM is a part-time ski instructor there. I wore the boots in the office, and met a friend of my HM, who works as a ski instructor as well. So then we took the ski-lift up to the mountain. As a first-timer, I should actually take the Gondelbahn up the hill, but then it was too far away and the ski-lift was just next to us. Plus, I requested to take the ski-lift, cause it looks just so COOL! Actually the ski-lift is very dangerous for me. It was very different than the one in China, cause the slope in China was so low, you need to push yourself downhill. Here, one mistake for me and I could break my leg or just roll down the hill. And you all know how "careful" I am. The ski-lift is fast, but exciting. And the hardest part is when you want to get off the ski-lift. One person has to pull the seat down and the other one has to ski away from the lift. For a first-timer, I'm surprised I get to release myself from the ski-lift. We reached *almost* the top of the mountain.
We went to the kiddies area first. It was a bit embarrassing. The little kids, around 4-5 years old, could ski so much better than me! They were doing curves and braking magnificently, and I was there, all sloppy and shaky. So when my HM taught me how to brake and slow down, we went to the REAL slope.
At first, I was doing alright. My HM was skiing backwards so she could keep an eye on me. She was also bending and holding my skis together, cause my skis were all tangled up if I was skiing alone. I don't know what happened then, I fell down on a split. Believe me, it hurts 10 times more when you're wearing skis. You couldn't move your legs because of the skis, and all I did there was sitting in that awkward split yelling "Leg! Leg! Leg!". I manage to get up, with the help of my HM, and my knee was hurting because of the fall. It felt like I twisted my knee, but I could still go on. We skied to another shorter ski-lift, which was located near the top of the mountain. The ski-lift could bring us back to where we got off at the first time, but a bit higher. So we skied down, and I was doing better. I could brake on my own and do a noob slight curve. Then we continued down to the ski-lift we took just now, and I was doing great :P But my legs were really tired, because I couldn't ski parallel. I needed to ski in a half-brake way so that I can go down slowly. And again to the ski-lift, and we took the ski-lift up again, and then now down to the restaurant on the hill. I was sweating a lot, by the way.
Took off our skis and placed them on the rack. I just feel that it's amazing you can just leave your skis and snowboards there, no matter how cheap or expensive, and have no worry that it'll get stolen. So we went into the restaurant, and I ordered Schweizbratwurst mit Pommes Frites, that means Swiss Sausage with French Fries. It costs 18fr. But it was a big portion.
And we sat at the table, with my HM's friend, who is a ski instructor for the disabled people. Sitting opposite me was a stranger, but people here in Switz are really friendly. He could just make a conversation with me, even though we do not know each other. It was a beautiful and sunny day, but I forgot to bring my specs along, so my eyes were hurting a little. There was a skirace earlier, and they were presenting the prizes when we were having lunch. The place was awesome. The weather is cold, but not freezing, and eating sausages outdoors enjoying the sun, and people all around were having a great time, despite the age groups.
My lunch :) It looked so delicious, I took a bite before I took this photo.
And so after lunch, we went to ski for a little while again. This time, I don't know why again, I fell down and slid through my HM's legs. So I was sliding downhill on my back, but my skis were still on the ground. So I was actually sitting down on my back and my HM was grabbing my hands. Thats made her ski backwards, and she had to bend down and she had to grab me upside down. I don't know if you understand, but it was hilarious. I bet the people around us were laughing non-stop. Luckily my HM is a skilled skier. I don't know how AGAIN, she managed to ski in front of me and block me. The slope was very steep, and she could block me and made us stop. My back was all snow, and I had difficulty standing up. And so after that, we took the ski-lift UP again, and skied back to the restaurant, grabbed our sticks and took the Gondelbahn down. The whole mountain was too difficult for me to ski, and I didn't want to risk anything by trying to ski down the whole mountain. Scary.
The Alps
The little "ants" that you see are actually people, skiing.
I used the shorter ski, and my HM used the longer one.
At the end, the wind was blowing so hard and cold, my face was numb like this. (Not even posing)
The bottom of the hill, and that's the mountain opposite the mountain I ski.Sorry bout the bad quality photos. Didn't bring my DSLR along.
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