Barndi Tom and Skeeter

Tom was nice enough to entertain my request to ski with him. The first thoughts about the whole three days is WOW! If you haven’t seen Tom ski, trust me when I say it’s a thing of beauty. I have followed his webpage for about 5 years, the time I have been skiing, and I knew he was a great skier, however I was quite impressed.

Friday my step father and I got to Windham about 5AM. We slept a few hours in the Durango and then headed for the Adaptive building. The new building they have built is impressive and so easy to get around in. Nice job guys. I was a little nervous meeting Tom and skiing with him. Thousands of thoughts rushed through my head….would I be good enough to ski with him, would he have a good time skiing with me, would he think I was wasting his time? I was a bit nervous. Me being a girl I of course worry about things that are stupid.

Honestly I have to say that from the moment I met Tom he just has a way of making you feel perfectly comfortable and relaxed. It felt like I had been buds with him for years. Then I saw that he was skiing a Volkl Superspeed! Damn I wanted to ski that! I was now totally jealous and we hadn’t even left the building!

Tom rips it, I was so jealous of how he could just ride an edge and carve a turn! It was beautiful! It was also so much fun to ski with another monoskier who just loves speed. I can’t ride an edge like Tom but I love speed and did my best to keep up. We skied all kinds of runs, I don’t remember all the names. Tom picked some terrain that scared me a little but I did it and felt better and better about harder terrain. Some of my skiing was a little ugly on steep terrain but I did it. I started to feel better about it. I liked having Tom there to follow and I liked having him push me out of my comfort zone. I was really enjoying skiing with Tom. We took a break at lunch time and Tom switched my ski, I was going to ski the Superspeed!!!!!

We also adjusted my outriggers with some brake. I wanted to carve turns like Tom and he suggested some brake. That was after he asked if he could give me some tips! YES! It was cute the way he didn’t want to hurt my feelings or critize my skiing. I told him I was tuff and would really appreciate any suggestions. I’ll try whatever I need to. Tom worked with me in the afternoon on carving and angulating. I can’t say I was really getting better but I was starting to feel the ski hook up and things were coming together. I did much better when Tom skied in front of me and I could watch. I rolled my eyes everytime I had to ski in front so he could watch me. He just laughed at me everytime I did it.

I can’t describe what it feels like when the ski hooks up and just arks around. It’s amazing, scary, fun, and a feeling that you don’t want to stop! It’s like you are riding this rail around and just getting faster and faster. There is no slip in the tail, no slip on ice—total control and SPEED! We skied till the lifts closed and I was exhausted! Hopefully day 2 will be even more fun with additional sleep.

Saturday. Today was a race clinic. The race clinic was fun and I got to run gates. What I really wanted was to just ski with Tom and work on carving. The feeling of that ski on edge was just stuck in my head. I wanted it. I kept thinking about where my body needed to be to really get that ski over. I wanted to do it!

Tom and I snuck away when we could to get some carving time in. On one of the lift rides we were talking about 360 spins. I didn’t know Tom couldn’t do one. I could! I am not great at them, I have just learned how to do it. I did manage to do a few and show Tom. It was awesome to share that with him. He is not only a great teacher but also a great student. He nailed it on his second try!! I was also getting better with my carving. I was really starting to feel the ski hooking up and the transition from edge to edge. It was amazing and fast! This is what skiing was meant to be! When I was screaming down the mountain nothing mattered but nailing the next turn. I couldn’t see my face but I am sure I had the happiest grin on my face. I was loving this. I couldn’t believe that I had waited so long to ski with Tom. This was worth every hour in the car. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Sunday. This was race day, I had a good time running through the gates but again riding a edge was more my thing. After I did my two runs in the race course it was back out with Tom. I was feeling pretty good about my carving and really getting more comfortable with it. What a feeling when that ski does what I want and just responds like a dancing partner. It was a feeling! I didn’t want to stop, the mountain wasn’t wide enough for me to just keep riding the rail. I am so happy that Tom took his time and worked with me to get this skill.

We played with the 360’s again but the snow was a little sticky, at least that is the excuse we are going with. We had a hard time getting them so we went back to carving. That was more fun and much faster! It felt pretty good when I was skiing to hear people shout praise to you. I know I wasn’t laying my ski over as far as Tom but it still felt pretty darn good.

I couldn’t ski all day Sunday, that trip back home was going to be a long one. I wanted to get a start on it since I had work on Monday. There is a cruel reality check. I had one of the best weekends in my life and was on cloud nine, then like a slap in the face……work on Monday and all the drama that goes with that……but alas Friday will come again and I can go back to my paradise, the ski slopes.

Overall I had the best three days in skiing since I started. Tom is funny and easy going. He is also a great teacher and just fun to hang out with! Thank you Tom. I can’t wait to ski with you again and carve turns that are finished at the bottom with 360’s! Looking forward to skiing with you again!