Skiing for the First Time in Lake Tahoe

Hi friends!

Recently I recapped both hiking at Emerald Bay State Park and eating & drinking in South Lake Tahoe, and today I have my final trip recap to share with you all: skiing for the first time there!

I’m not really a big winter sports person…or winter in general person for that matter. I don’t love snow, and while I did go sledding and tubing here and there in the winter growing up in New Jersey, I had never had a big interest in skiing. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t turn down a chance to try it, but if given the choice between a tropical vacation or a winter wonderland to go skiing, I’d choose the former every time. But last month when I got obsessed with the Olympics as I usually do when they’re happening, the idea of being around snow and surprising my hubby with a long weekend in Lake Tahoe popped into my head…and so off on a winter adventure we went!

While I had never gone skiing before, Adam had skied a bunch of times before. We stayed in South Lake Tahoe near the Heavenly Ski Resort, which is the most popular one in the area, but elected to drive a bit further out to Diamond Peak. I had a feeling that learning to ski in a crazy crowded area would make me nervous, and I’m glad that we went to another resort instead.

We put our skis on at the start of this sloped area, and before I even had time to think, I was rolling backwards into an orange fence with no idea how to stop. I laughed so hard when I smashed against the fence, unable to get away from it for the life of me, I had tears streaming down my face!

I think that everyone says this about skiing for the first time, but it is seriously the weirdest feeling when you first start. It seems so challenging to do anything! Luckily, Adam was pretty much the best coach ever. He took his skis off, would run down the barely sloped area, and coach me as I slowly made my way to him… or a few times, very quickly made my way to him without being able to stop!

After about an hour of my beginners lesson, I really started to get the hang of it. We practiced going down the bunny slopes a bunch of times until I was confident, then made our way over to the more intermediate run. I only fell once going down the harder run, which I’m pretty proud of, because a few other times I got freaked out at how fast I was zipping down but managed to gain control and keep it together. When all was said and done, I mastered (well…kinda sorta) the basics, and we had one hell of a workout that lasted all afternoon long (and left me nice and sore for a few days afterwards!).

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When I later asked Adam if I was better or worse at skiing than he anticipated me to be he said, “Well, I thought you’d be better at the beginning, but then I didn’t expect you to progress and be so good at the end.” I’m taking that as a nod for most improved skier on the slopes that day! 😉

I’ll admit, I was kind of scared to try skiing, but I knew I had to just swallow my fear and go for it. And so it is with anything scary and new that we try, it’s slightly terrifying at first. But if we take baby steps and listen to our intuition, we can conquer the fear and actually have a pretty damn good time.

The Olympians certainly make skiing look insanely easy, as did the 12-year olds who were taking part in the slalom competition on the slopes that day, but I think I’ll definitely hit the slopes again sometime in my life to have some fun and improve my skills!

Questions: Have you ever gone skiing? What was the last thing you did that scared you?  

Disclaimer: This post contains a sponsored link. As always, all opinions expressed are genuinely my own.