January 18th 3rd Telemark Lesson

It was a big weekend in my tele ski journey. Michael decided to come up and check out what I was learning in my lessons at Taos, so I rented some gear down at Sangre de Cristo Mountain Works for the weekend. This also gave me the opportunity to try out some different skis.

I had fully expected to ditch the tele skis after lunch, but my turns were starting to improve a little so I stuck with it all day. Michael and Gary were very patient with me while we skied some easier slopes, but by the end of the day I was able to get around some smaller moguls. It was a bright sunny day, we had beer in the camelback and Santa Fe Brewing was pouring on the deck. It was a fun day.

Sunday was my 3rd lesson in Taos. Donna was in Florida this weekend, so Michael kept me company on the way up. We skied for about 2 hours or so before my lessons. I then took off and Michael met up with Angela and Christa for lunch at the Bavarian. My instructor this week was Bob. I like Bob a lot, he is very technical in his explanations and that was helpful in understanding what we were suppose to do and how it impacted the turns, etc. Again the concentration was on weighting the back ski, which I think I felt a little bit of pressure this time. At least a glimmer of hope. We also concentrated on keeping our bodies downhill and pole positioning. His final words to me were weight the up hill ski more and keep working on that.

I ended the day at the Bavarian and then the St. Bernard for some apps and beers. It was another beautiful day on the mountain.

Day 3 was Martin Luther King Day, another beautiful day at Pajarito Mountain. I met Kim and Gary (it was his birthday) up at the mountain and then Michael joined us for the afternon. I decided to wear the tele skis so that I could practice what I learned on Sunday. Again I expected to switch to my alpine skis in the afternoon and again I didn't do it. I really want to get past this beginner phase and feel comfortable skiing at a regular pace on at least the blues and small moguls. I think I'm really close. My right hand turn is feeling pretty good and in some kind of control. The left however is totally lacking. As I always tell Tiff, practice, practice, practice.

I took another big step this weekend. I was hooked up with Diane, a patroller at Pajarito, she had a pair of Garmont Venus Tele Boots that had never been used in my size. They are a 2006 version of the boot, but I think will work just fine. I bought them and used them on Sunday and Monday. In addition, I skied on the G3 Nectar ski all weekend and decided to take the plunge and buy them. So Monday night I went back to Sangre, turned in my rental gear and bought a pair as well as some G3 Targa Elle bindings. They will be ready for me on Friday. No more renting for me. So I suppose this makes me a little committed. What have I done :-)