TIFU by skipping the bunny slopes.

Hi all. Obligatory not today, but this happened yesterday.

So my boyfriend and I had been planning a ski trip to blue mountain PA for a couple weeks. It was both our first times skiing and we were super excited! We decided against renting snowboards because we weren’t sure if we were up to the challenge (and thank god for that).

Skip to the day of the trip (yesterday). We get there, we are geared up to the brim in layers, heavy awkward boots, huge snow pants and tight helmets with goggles. Carrying around awkward heavy skis and poles, I’m hot and completely over stimulated. Everything was about 10 times more uncomfortable than I predicted it would be, putting me into a somewhat sour mood until we would get to the slopes and it would all be worth it.

We approach the bottom of the mountain. After checking the map several times, we’re still confused on where to go. My boyfriend suggests we just hop onto the closest lift and hope for the best! Trial by fire being the best way to learn and whatnot. I decided to trust him and we made our way (clumsily) to the lift that was directly in front of us as soon as you exit the building.

Once we get on the lift (after the loft operator had to stop it to avoid me and my boyfriend hurting ourselves. Embarrassing.) we greet the two men sitting to our left excitedly.

We ask the men, “hey, so this is our first time skiing! how do we get to the bunny slopes from here?” The man hesitated for a second.

“Oh, you uh… oh no. You kinda missed the bunny hills.” My heart dropped. He explained that this lift was taking us all the way to the top of the mountain, where the black diamond and double black diamond trails were. And the only way down was to ski down. One whole mile.

Now I should tell you that my only two real big fears are heights and uncontrollable speed. You can imagine how terrified I was. Even the beta blockers i took right before this were not blocking me betas at ALL.

Every single attempt to pizza French fry failed. I fell at least five times on the first tiny hill. We tried a green trail called “Easy Out” and it was NOT an easy out. On the second hill, after I had gained a bit more confidence, I went full throttle (unintentionally). I was going so fast that when I lost control and fell, my helmet, glasses and goggles are flew off my head and down the hill. And why does nobody tell you that standing up with skis on is the hardest thing ever? At this point I’m horrified and also angry that I had let us get ourselves into this situating. I angrily take my skis off and declare that I am walking down this mountain; because I’m not making it down without injuring myself or somebody else. The trip had already seemed ruined, and my boyfriend felt horribly guilty.

Luckily, a medical worker approached me and asked what was wrong. I told him the same thing, and he explained to me that it’s a mile walk down. He told me to go back to the building id just passed and they’d have someone escort us down in a van. They saved my life and my trip. They were so sweet to us, understanding, and even happy that we knew our limits enough to not let ourselves or anybody else get hurt.

After explaining how to get to the bunny slopes, he dropped us off nearby our car, I chugged a whole 750 ml bottle of wine, and we finally hit the bunny slopes. The trip was saved and I could learn how to properly pizza French fry safely. Lesson learned: trial by fire is definitely not always a good idea.

TL;DR: we got on the wrong ski lift for our very first time, which took us a mile up the mountain to the most difficult slopes. After falling pretty hard multiple times, staff had to give us a ride back down the mountain.