Going Skiing

When I was a child, my parents used to love going skiing. Every winter they would go to the mountains for a week or two and ski. Skiing is sport in which people put long pieces of wook or plastic on their feet and they they move across the snow. It is very popular in northern Europe and has also become popular in many other places in the world with a lot of snow.

I went skiing a few times with my parents and liked it a lot. It's a little difficult at first. The skis (the pieces of wood or plastic) are about 2 meters long, and the boots (special shoes) that people wear are very heavy, so it takes some time to get used to moving with these things on your feet.

There are several kinds of skiing, but the two most popular are downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. In downhill skiing, people go down the sides of hills and mountains. In cross-country skiing, they move mostly across flat land. Downhill skiing is a lot faster, but cross-country skiing is better exercise. Now, with for downhill skiing people usually go to ski resorts (places with hotels and restaurants that are for fun and tourism). With downhill skiing, you want to go fast down a hill. That's not easy because you must be careful not to fall down and get hurt. But the hardest part is getting up the hill in the first place.

In the past, people had to climb up the hill, which was slow and hard work. Nowadays, there are machines that carry people to the top. The simplest machine is a moving rope that goes from the bottom of the hill to the top. You grab this rope and it pulls you to the top of the hill. A more complex machine is the chair lift. This machine has chairs for people to sit on, and then it carries you over the snow and trees to the mountain top. Once you are at the mountain top, you are ready for the ski down the hill. Hills and mountains have different colors, and these tell you how easy or hard they are. It's very important to be careful with these colors and to only go to hills that are right for you. The more difficult hills are longer and steeper (not flat). Often with the difficult hills, you must change direction many times, and this can be difficult when you're going fast. Skiing is fun, but it is a dangerous sport. Some people break their bones, especially their legs, because they did not have good control. And the sport forces you to use muscles that maybe you haven't been using much. You need to have strong thighs (the muscles in the leg above the knee) and shoulders for this sport.

One surprise for people visiting a ski resort is that the snow is very deep. In most resorts the snow is more than 2 meters deep! If there isn't enough snow, the resort might make artificial (not natural) snow. They take huge pieces of ice and then use machines to cut it into very small pieces, as small as grains of sugar. They then blow this on the sides of the mountains. Of course, it's cold in a ski resort. The temperature is usually below -10º or -15º C even during the day time. But you usually don't feel cold. People wear special clothes, and this helps keep them warm. Also because they are always moving, this exercise keeps their bodies warm. Another surprise is that the sun is so bright. People with white skin must use special protection on their skin, just like when they go to the beach. The sky is usually clear and the white snow on the ground reflects (gives back) a lot of light. Everyone, whether their skin is white or dark, needs to wear goggles (special glasses) to protect your eyes. If you don't wear these goggles, you eyes will become tired after a few hours of being in the bright light.

Downhill skiing is not a cheap sport. It costs several hundred dollars per day per person at most resorts. You have to rent a hotel and then you must rent your equipment (the things that you use): skis, boots, poles. Most people buy their own special winter clothing, and this is also costly. Finally, most people who go to a ski resort must travel long distances from their homes, so they have to buy plane tickets. Cross country skiing for most people is a lot cheaper.

One of the attractions of downhill skiing is that you can do it on flat ground with little snow. For example, there is no downhill skiing in Chicago, the city where I live in America. It is too flat (the highest point on land is just a few meters above the lowest point) and there is usually no more than 10 centimeters of snow on the ground. Not a good place for downhill skiing! But lots of people go cross-country skiing there. It's easy to go near the lake and put on your skis and then to go up and down the lakefront (the land near the lake). I don't know anyone who skis to work in the winter, but it would be possible if one's home and work were near the lake.