Ski Trip

Monday morning Dan & I got up early & drove up to Seven Springs for the day. We had actually wanted to stay the night but everything was booked when we tried to schedule online. Driving up for the day is not bad at all because the lift tickets they have let you ski until 7 p.m. so you're basically there the entire day. Dan & I arrived around 10:00 a.m. & bought our tickets, rented our boots, skis & poles & headed out to the lift. For a Monday there were a good bit of people there. I gave him a quick lesson on snow plowing & using his poles before we went on the lift. We got in line to get on the lift & he did very well; didn't fall like most people do the first time trying to get on. We made it up the mountain & went down the "Children's Skill Hill" first to make sure he could get the hang the of things. The first time down he was basically a kamakaazee. His poles were stretched out to his sides, he went straight down without snow plowing & almost hit one of the kids in the Tiny Tots Ski Lesson group. Going back up the ski lift for the second time I told him we were going to practice turning, stopping & snow plowing. We went down the "Skill Hill" again just to make sure he could control himself this time & he did a lot better. No one was almost killed that time. We decided to go down a circle slope which is the easiest of all the slopes they have there. He got better every time he went down; I was very impressed. There were a couple times when I would say "great job babe!" & he would lose his concentration & almost fall but that was only because I was talking to him & distracted him. Around 12:30 p.m. we decided to go into the lobby for some lunch so I told Dan to follow me to the lodge. We took a side exit which was a lot smaller than what he was use to stopping in. When I stopped to take my skiis off I noticed Dan was not right behind me; I looked back & he was lying on the ground with his left ski off & he looked like he was in pain. There was a little kid that was handing him his ski so I went over there & asked him what happened. He said a kid on a snowboard stopped right in front of him & he tried to hurry up & ski around him so he wouldn't hit him but his skiis crossed & he fell on his left side, hitting his head & his shoulder on the ground. The left side of his head was slightly swollen & he couldn't raise his left arm over his head. We took his skiis off & went into the lobby so I could have a ski patrolman paged. They came to check him out & told him that they needed to take him to their headquarters to be examined. They ended up putting a neck brace on him & had him lie on a gurney so he wouldn't walk to the vehicle. It was a little scary the way they were wrapping him up but the EMT assured me that it was only for precautions. We spent the rest of our afternoon at the Ski Patrol headquarters having Dan ice his shoulder & them checking his vitals to make sure he didn't have a concussion. They released him around 3:00 p.m. & we made our way back to my parents house. The day was going well & Dan was doing so great until the snowboarder messed everything up. Dan said on the way home, "if I ever see that kid again I'm going to kill him". I would say I have to agree. I'm hoping he feels a little better today than he did yesterday but I'm pretty sure he's going to be worse; that soreness is going to kick in.
At the end of the day Dan did say we would go back because he did have fun up until the incident. All I have to say is watch out for the snowboarders when you're out skiing, they stop in the middle of the trail & sit down which means you have to ski around them & they fly past you almost like they're going to run into you. I've been skiing since I was 5 & every time I go I have problems with snowboarders. They can suck the fun out of skiing for you.