The Pragmatician: I HATE WINTER SPORTS(If you call ski a sport)

Thursday, November 30, 2006

I HATE WINTER SPORTS(If you call ski a sport)

With the winter ahead of us, my yearly childhood trauma is surfacing again.

Some of you may have seen this post already, and you all had fun with it so here goes again.

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I don’t know how many of you have had a chance to ski, but I bet that those who have, loved it and those who haven’t would very much like to try it out.

For me skiing is like math, both being awful childhood traumas.

I’m particularly sensible to the cold and skiing is certainly not a conducive activity to feeling warm and fuzzy.

But since the family packed up to join the hordes of sheep-like people going to the mountains every winter, I wasn’t exactly asked whether I felt like going along.

My earliest memory of skiing goes back to when I was but an innocent child of eight.

I went along with a group of kids and one teacher (only 1 for perhaps 10 kids!!).

I kept falling and hurting myself, not to mention that with every fall snow crept in my clothes and slid over my already icy body.

The teacher didn’t pay much attention to me, he must’ve thought I was a troublemaker, and the other kids all seemed to be pros, as if they had skied right out of the womb.

So it happened year after year, I complained, even begged not to have to go, but it was easier to ignore the cries of a weird child (which normal kid doesn’t like skiing?) than to find an alternative to keep me busy during the winter break.

The second year I feared the worst only to find out it actually gets worse, we went higher up and for that we had to take the “platter ski lift”. To me then a frightening engine that would surely drop me, and swallow me whole if I didn’t jump out on time before the platter turned back.

I've had needles the size of a pen injected in my back around the same age and wasn't half as scared of that than of these lifts. (just to give you an idea)

Needless to say I fell out sufficient times, got hurt and lost and only thanks to H’Ashem’s kindness found someone I knew after walking with heavy ski’s for 45 minutes.

That same evening I vowed to recite 30 kapitlers Tehillim(psalms) if I wouldn’t fall off the platter lift the next day, and believe it or not, I didn’t. And yes I honored my vow.

This went on for years until one year I actually dared fight back against my parents.

That morning I refused to leave the house and while they tried everything from cooing to threatening, I stayed at home.

Being an compliant child neither my parents nor I knew very well how to handle this rebellion.

It was a very unpleasant period; I tried to make amends but insisted on not skiing and so these issues we only resolved once we got back home.

Since then I haven’t skied and I don’t intend to ever again!Rereading this before posting I realize it’s sort of a childish post, but with my friends all running off to the mountains to have ‘the time of their life’, all these memories flooded back and I needed an outlet!

Labels: ski, winter sports

# posted by Pragmatician @ 12:15 AM

Comments:

each to their own!
i'm sure there are other winter pursuits that interest you :) (that are somewhat safer)

# posted by

Sarah Likes Green : 1:25 AM

never been. i think that's a sign that you should stick to vacations in the warm weather hot spots.

# posted by

bellanny : 6:09 AM

Oooh, now I want to go skiing...! And I'm an accountant. Hmmm. Methinks we're very different... ;)

# posted by

Ezzie : 7:12 AM

I agree...Never liked skiing...
Do like sledding though...thats fun

# posted by

David_on_the_Lake : 9:51 AM

I think this was one of the first posts that I read - wow, this means I read your blog for over a year!!!!!

well, same as my comment a year ago - I love skiing :D

# posted by

Mia M : 10:40 AM

As skiing is the national sport of Colorado, I have to say that you have uttered a heresy. Skiing is easy, simple, and inexpensive. Everyone should come to Colorado and and enjoy this simple leisure activity. Now before you go, please sign my cast. I should be able to ski again next year after my acl, mcl, and lcl are functional again.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11:33 AM

don't like skiing either

# posted by

smb : 5:37 PM

I enjoy watching other ski. My wife and I went once before we had kids. It was fun and scary. I ended up swinging my poles all over the place, knocking down kids, and screaming "get out of the way."
...it remains one of my wife's funniest memories!

# posted by

Neil Harris : 9:15 PM

I too hated skiing as a kid - I like having my feet FIRMLY on the ground - as parents now we decided to take the kids skiing one year even though I wouldnt ski I still enjoyed the whole environment until our 7 year old wanted to know how come its okto wear pants on ski slopes but not the rest of the time - hmmm I tried to tell her its like with any sports you wear clothing appropriate to the sport - which didnt wash with her and she said lets say a bathing suit I only go separate swimming!!
she was of course right and it got me thinking of the double standards we were giving our kids - here we were making the choice to bring her up in a certain way and on the other hand we were doing the exact opposite!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 4:36 AM

Sarah-There are many indeed.
Much safer:)

bellany-I couldn't agree more, warm is so much better.

ezzie-It's mostly the formulas that I hated.
But I'm not saying there was a link.

David-got hurt doing that, so now I dislike it too but I always prefreed it to skiing.

# posted by

Pragmatician : 4:48 AM

Sarah-There are many indeed.
Much safer:)

bellany-I couldn't agree more, warm is so much better.

ezzie-It's mostly the formulas that I hated.
But I'm not saying there was a link.Sarah-There are many indeed.
Much safer:)

David-I like dthta better too, until I got hurt doing it.

# posted by

Pragmatician : 4:49 AM

Mia-funny I remember that. Thanks for sticking with The Pragmatician.

Amishav-Exactly my point, I do however apologize to the good people of Colorado :)

LVNS-cool, I like it when people say that

Neil-At leats the memory is a good one, that’s something.

Anonymous-Intuitive little one, I agree it’s somewhat of a double standard yet I don’t know if a ski suit can be compared to regular pants.
Swimming is healthier in any case:)

# posted by

Pragmatician : 4:54 AM

Awww.
I have the same deathly hate for ice skating. My sisters and I used to go ice skating and I would complain the whole time just wanting to go home. I think the whole grace and beauty flew right out the window when I hit (literally) the ice.
There's something very "not fun" to me about slipping around on ice. I'd much rather go swimming.

# posted by

Sara with NO H : 4:54 AM

i'm with you, broke my leg skiing, will never let my family go! not worth it!

# posted by

chaverah : 5:02 AM

I hear you, Prag! I'll stay back at the lodge and sip on the Dutch hot cocoa in front of the warm fire!

# posted by

Stacey : 12:49 PM

poor kid. sounds awful. dont blame ye for never wanting to ski again.

# posted by

beautiful-stranger : 3:22 PM

I love skiing too bad you have a trauma from it.

# posted by

socialworker/frustrated mom : 7:05 PM

i'm with you with the skiing, although my dad used to love skiing--but then he had us kids and that was enough of a challenge!

# posted by

bec : 8:53 PM

Ay, yi yi!!!
been there done that!
Never mind that my kids throw themselves off mountains, the worst is drying up all the wet ski suits and boots for the next day!

# posted by

kasamba : 7:32 AM

Thank God for no snow down here.

# posted by

Emanuel Ben-Zion : 3:19 PM

to most people where I live in Europe it is a status thing to go skiing - you know youve made it in life if you are seen skiing with your whole family!!

# posted by

Anonymous : 10:21 AM

I have never skiied and I never will- it looks way too scary for me. I'm sure I'd fall and break at least one leg!

Come to think of it, I can't ice skate, either. I tried it a few times as a kid and I hated it.

So I guess I'm not big on winter sports, either!

# posted by

JJ : 10:11 AM