Skiing On A Cold, Cold Day

My husband and I went skiing this past weekend. Up at Mammoth Mountain. This is funny to me because I learned to ski at this mountain back in the 70's. I was not good at it. But good enough so that when I met my husband, who is a great skier, I was able to pretend that I was a great skier, too. I am sure this is why he married me. That and my quick wit!.

So, we dated and I skied and we got married and I skied and we had kids and I skied and somewhere along those many roads often traveled I admitted that I really don't like to ski that much. (Or jump off bridges into cold, New England oceans, but that is a story for another day).

Now, to be truthful, I actually do like to ski. Just not in the cold.

For anyone who knows me well, and probably all those who just know me - period - you know that I do not like the cold. As in I moved across the country because I do not like the cold. Or the snow. Or rain. I really do not like rain. Truth be told, I actually prefer snow to rain. I think this is the cat in me. As in perhaps in another life I was a cat and so I hate to get wet. Raindrops hurt my soul.  

My dog hates the rain, too. I wrote about this in a previous writing. About my brilliant and amazing and oh so beautiful Doberman puppy and how she does not like the rain. The rain hurts her soul, too. 

But not the snow. Nava likes the snow. When we were in Massachusetts this past fall, during our extended east coast stay, Nava had her first snow experience. And loved it. Snow was her thing. As in she could have been an east coast dog. She loved the snow. And had fun in the cold. Running after the ball even as I stood bundled and breathing into my already mittened hands to try and get them to feel a bit warmer. She loved the snow as we walked through the woods near a friend's home, or walked down the path to the not yet frozen lake at my parent's home nearby the farmhouse I was renting for the fall.

So, unlike me, she is  is a cold weather gal.

This is very noticeable when we play ball these days here in Ojai. She loves to play ball. Mostly first thing in the morning, before the sun is really up and the temperature is cool...as in cold...as in sometimes thirty-five degrees of cold. She is so happy then. She will run after the ball that I hurl with my trusty ball hurler thing over and over again. Sometimes not resting at all. Other times lying in the wet and cool morning grass as the steam, from her strong and now hot from running so much body, rises off her fur in contrast to the coolness of the ground.

But if I take her ball playing in the middle of the day she is very different. She will chase the ball because she loves the ball but she stops more often. Always in the shade. Always for quite a long time. The sun and her black and shiny fur coat do not match. And so I will only take her out to play midday when I know that there will be shade for her to lay in. And the ball game is short. And then we go home to the coolness of our deck or the comfort of the couch.

So you can see that she is very different from me in this one aspect of our selves. Because I could sit in the midday sun all day if I were able to. The heat against my skin is a favorite thing of mine. The cold is something that I avoid. 

And so it is surprising that I went skiing this past weekend. 

Because it was so cold. I did not expect this. I was thinking California spring skiing even though it is February. But it was not that. It was freezing. And more, it was snowing. Like snowing so that when we got off the chair lift I could not see the mountain. This makes skiing difficult. 

Now, as I mentioned, I learned to ski at Mammoth Mountain but I perfected my skiing on the east coast. As in I am an ice skier. Give me a slippery slope and my MoJo sets it. But give me powder and I am in trouble.

​So back to this weekend. We could not see. It was freezing and it was snowing and there was powder. Like a lot of powder. A ton of powder. And because I could not see it, when I hit it, it was not pretty.

​But I held my own. And we found trails that were somewhat groomed. And went inside quite often to warm up near a fire and eat this really yummy egg scrambler thing with mushrooms and spinach and cheese.

And have agreed that our next ski trip will be in early May. (My husband is thinking late April...but it will be early May!!)