Got My Ski Legs Back

So I made a last minute decision earlier this week to head up to Heavenly up in South Lake Tahoe.

This was my first time skiing for the 2010-2011 ski season.  Sad, I know.  It was great to get away from San Francisco and have some time alone to journal and to think about a few recent developments in my life.  Plus, not waiting in lift lines and cheap hotel rates made the trip a no-brainer.

Speed.  I love it and my skis (Volkl AC50s) are like rocket jets.  I just lean slightly and a turn is initiated, but if I seriously lean into the skis with most of my body weight they just take off.  I should find a way of using a GPS device to measure my top speed.  That might be an interesting statistic to know.

Photography.  I took this trip as a good opportunity to further refine my action photography skills.  Few observations, it is difficult to get AFSERVO mode working 100% of the time.  There are a decent number of focusing issues that I am experiencing.  In addition, taking sports photos with my 1D Mark IV, with the 10fps rate, causes me to get a lot of photos.  Going through those photos in the evening after taking them is quite time consuming.  I got over 1500 photos that I had to go through.  I'm attaching some sample photos to this post.  There's a lot more room for improvement, but slow steady steps.  I'm going to have to find more opportunities to come up to Tahoe this season to take more photographs of skiers and snowboarders doing tricks.

I'm sore.  It has been a while since I worked out these skiing muscles.  Going to have to hit the gym once I return back to SF and work on the quads and calves.

Had a great time and this trip just reinforces how much I love skiing.  Anyone up for some ski trips this season?

Random Notes:

• My car can barely fit ski gear in it.  Front passenger seat needs to be down in order for the skis to fit in the car.  Yeah, quite annoying.  Back seats do not fold down and there isn't a ski bag package.
• I hate skiing in low visibility conditions.  "Skiing via Braille" was how it was described to me.  Thankfully, I also brought my amber lenses for my goggles.  Serious lifesaver.
• Nothing gets me super jazzed in the morning as the notion of skiing on "corduroy" (freshly groomed trails).  Making fresh tracks is one of the best things in the world.
• Locals here in South Lake Tahoe only ski during the week and avoid weekends.  They are incredibly cool and super laid back.  Very refreshing.
• No lift lines yields about 5-6 runs an hour.  Also, fewer people to avoid on the slopes.
• There are a lot of crazy skiers & snowboarders who do amazing tricks.  Super gutsy.  Some of the forward flips and back-flips are incredible.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from David Dat Nguyen