[Stylist] writing prompt/ skiing

[Jackie]

Kris,

I enjoyed your history of snow skiing. Comparing snow and water skiing for me is easy. I could do one, and never accomplished the other. First, I do not like to be cold. My first experience was a trek with my sister’s friends off the highway at Toga tee (spelling?) Pass in Wyoming. We had to cross country a short bit until we got to a tow rope to take us up. Hard work. I had extreme difficulty using the tow rope to get up to where most were going. I did have a bit of instruction in how to slow down when skiing downhill.

I was so inept, I decided to head back alone early so I would not hold up anyone. When I got to the biggest hill going back, I decided to try it. Like you, I found the speed to be thrilling. I got to the bottom, and then fell, twisting one ankle when the ski did not come off as it was supposed to. I was still trying to free myself from the extremely painful position when someone from the party found me. I tried several times after I was married, up in the Catskills, but I never mastered going up successfully on a tow rope. I still do not know why it was so much easier for me to get up in the water for water skiing.

I was not blind with either experiences, but rather wore thick glasses, which I removed before water skiing.

Thanks for sharing.  

 

Jacqueline Williams

 

Clarity is just questioning having eaten its fill.

     Jenny Xie

 

From: Stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kuell via Stylist
Sent: Monday, October 07, 2019 9:10 AM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Chris Kuell <ckuell at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Stylist] writing prompt/ skiing

 

Hey Vejas,

 

Not to disagree with Ann, but I think ‘hurts’ is a relative term. For perspective, I’ll tell you that the first time I went snow skiing, I was sighted and went with some college friends who pretty much abandoned me at the top of a tall Vermont mountain. I skied, sort of, and fell, all the way down the mountain. At the end of the day I couldn’t really ski well, and I’d fallen at least 100 times. The next day I felt like I’d been hit by a truck and run over, and then the truck went into reverse and backed over me again for good measure. I hurt.

 

It was a few years before I worked up the courage (or the stupidity) to try snow skiing again. This time I was invited by a nice young lady who actually took the time to give me a few lessons so I could slowly make my way down the easy slopes without falling too often. And it was fun. In time, with practice, I grew to be what most would call a good skier. I hardly fell at all, and when I did it was usually because I was going too fast or didn’t steer myself around the big bumps in time. I loved skiing fast—it was a thrill that I miss terribly.

 

I went blind in my 30s, and some friends insisted I could still ski. I went a couple of times, but the problem was that the ski instructors insisted I go slowly and carefully. This makes sense, but to me, it also took all the fun out of skiing.

 

Then I met a guy named Alan Galobek, who at the time held the world record for blind water-ski jumping. He’s totally blind (like me) and back in 1998 he was water skiing, went up a ramp and flew in the air 66 feet before landing—and he did so without falling. Since then I know someone has gone further. Anyway, Al started a non-profit organization and gathered volunteers to teach blind and other disabled people to water ski on Lake Zoar in Connecticut. And that’s where I learned to water ski. They had a great set-up in that at the back of the boat there was a boom, which is like a broom stick sticking out of the side of the boat at the very back. The first time you go, you get in the water and you hold that boom, and there’s a sighted instructor at the back of the boat who talks to you and makes sure you are in the right position. As the boat starts to go, the sighted person coaches you on standing up, bending your knees, leaning forward or back, and so on. So it’s great for learning the hardest part of water skiing.

 

Next you move to a 6 foot long lead and ski behind the boat. Again, if the coach shouts you can hear, and you learn how to get up and steer from right to left and back. After that, you ski with a 30 foot rope just like any other water skier. And to me, it was soo much fun. I asked the driver to go faster, and I skied at about 35 miles per hour, which seems like 100 miles per hour, and it was thrilling. When I fell (and I did fall) it sort of slaps you, true, but I thought it was so much fun, and so much softer than hitting the hard ground. My one cautionary note is if you ever water ski, wear a snug fitting bathing suit. Once when I was going fast and wiped out, the force pulled my shorts off and had I not hooked my foot in time to save them, I might have had to really shock the bystanders who were watching us on shore.

 

Chris

 

 

 

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