At last some decent weather! After many days with such thick cloud that midday felt like dusk, the sky cleared today, the sun shone, and the temperature fell to a crisp -5. Liam and I celebrated by going skiing. We drove to Isaberg resort by Hestra, which takes an hour and forty minutes, just a little longer than to Ulricehamn where we usually go. We arrived just after 11, in time for a quick lunch and a full afternoon's skiing.
Isaberg is a very pleasant, small resort. It is on the slopes of a `mountain´about 350m high, which is surrounded by a much flatter landscape, which makes the view from the top superb: one looks out over a sea of forests and lakes, and feels that one can see for ever. Last time we were here only one slope was open, but today we saw much more of it, to our great enjoyment.
We started out in the green (children´s) slope, because Liam wanted to. Sian would have liked it: the slope is extremely gentle and the lift is very slow. Very good for beginners, but we were bored after one run.
Then we tried the main, red `family´slope, which runs down from the mountaintop. But although Liam skied there with great enjoyment last year, he lost his nerve today, and I had to bring him down between my legs. It isn't particularly steep, but the snow was hard, and this was only his second day skiing this season.
But lower down the mountain, we found the blue slope; easy skiing in the sunshine which Liam really enjoyed. We raced a few times (I always lost), Liam recovered his nerve and began to ski faster, and was very proud of overtaking adults on one occasion!
Even the snow was nicer here, because they ran the snow cannons during the day, so as the day wore on the snow became softer and softer. At Isaberg the cannons look like street lights hanging out over the slopes, and they squirt a swirling cloud of droplets far across the slope. Then it `snows´ lightly from that artificial cloud; when you ski through it, it feels like a very light snowfall, so there is no problem at all in running them while people ski. The amazing thing is that such a light snowfall has any noticeable effect on the ground -- but it sure does!
Finally we went back to the red slope, in the hope that Liam would feel comfortable there after practicing in the easier slope. But he was instantly nervous again. So we had a discussion of braveness: that being brave means trying things one is a little frightened of. So he tried a turn on the steeper slope, and of course it went just fine. He skied the rest of the way down, and at the bottom told me he wasn't being brave any more -- because he wasn't frightened anymore! We spent the rest of the afternoon having fun in the red slope, and once even took the `black´ route down. (Actually, that slope is just a little narrower and bumpier than the red one -- Isaberg seem to exaggerate the difficulty of their slopes a little bit -- but black is black and Liam was proud.)
I was using my new skis, a pair of Black Diamond Rubicon telemark skis which I got for Christmas. I was delighted with them! They are much more stable than my old pair, and indeed, although they have a free heel, one can almost pretend they are alpine skis if the conditions warrant it. Since the snow was hard and in places bumpy today I made a lot of parallel (alpine) turns, and the skis worked just perfectly. The edges seem very grippy on icy patches (perhaps because they are new!) At the same time they make for a nice smooth telemark. These skis are said to be best in loose snow; I'm looking forward to a chance to try them in those conditions!
All in all we had a great day´s skiing. It was just wonderful to be outdoors in the sunshine again at last!