[nabs-l] Has anybody skied before?

[Sami Osborne]

Hi all,

So I have a question about your experiences as blind students and 
I hope you can answer.

Today, my mom and my younger brother (who is sighted) are going 
out skiing.  We've never actually done it before as a family, so 
I was looking forward to trying something new (my mom has done it 
before back in France, and my brother did it last month on a 
school field trip).  But today my mom told me that she'd love 
that I come with them, but that skiing requires a fair amount of 
vision.  She thinks I can learn, but that neither she, my dad, or 
my brother is sufficiently good enough at it to teach me how (as 
a blind person,) and I would therefore need a specialized 
instructor.
While I was of course pretty disappointed, I could also see the 
confidence that my mom had that I can ski if I get the proper 
instruction (both my parents have high expectations for me and my 
brother).

So I'd like to know if any of you guys have gone skiing before 
and how your experiences were.  Did you manage without vision, 
and did you learn from your family, friends or a special 
instructor?
Also, how different is skiing from sledding in terms of requiring 
the use of vision?
 Just to let you know, we go sledding every winter, and I am able 
to sled down the hill and walk back up without any problems with 
vision or sighted assistance (where we go sledding, the hill is 
just a straight line, so it's relatively easy to walk up once I 
slide down).

I look forward to hearing about all your experiences and try 
something new with my family eventually.

Thanks,

Sami.