Ira Riklis, in this interview about skiing, continues:
“So, it is hours since we left home, hours since I could feel my feet, hours since I started the process of simply getting into my equipment and walking to the slopes, and now I’m ready to try and get some elevation so that I can ski. I’m not yet ready at this point to ride a ski lift or even to tackle the beginner slopes where they still had rope tows.
“Rope tows were usually an old, jacked up pickup truck with the wheels removed and a rope attached to the axle in such a manner as to cause the rope to circulate. You would grab hold of the rope and it would pull you up a small slope. I haven’t seen a rope tow in over 25 years, but ski gloves still have a reinforcement designed to protect the palm from the scrapping effect of the rope tow.
“Using the sidestep motion that I had now mastered, I climbed what seemed to me as a huge slope. Today I could probably jump that slope without giving it a second thought; but at the time it looked like I was atop Mt. Denali.
“I’m finally ready to ski. I point my skis down the slope and I begin to move. I feel the exhilaration of flight and I’m hooked. I’m just lovin’ it. I know that I’m going to be coming back again and again to get this feeling.
“Nothing could diminish my thrill and pleasure, except . . . . It suddenly occurs to me, I don’t know how to stop! I’m headed downhill at what seems to me an incredible speed, I don’t know how to avoid the people in front of me and that’s not my real concern. I’m headed straight for the base lodge; this can’t end well …”
Stay tuned for what happens to Ira Riklis in our next installment …
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