eldora women’s days
Monday, January 4th, 2016It’s a new year! I know some of you were hoping for a recipe, but this is a different kind of recipe. It’s a recipe for life. Learn something. Be active. Simple, right?
Are you the type to make new year’s resolutions or do you make resolutions throughout the year regardless of the date? I’m in the latter camp, although last year I did manage to make a resolution that coincided with the start of 2015. Jeremy and I participated in the Thanksgiving Nordic Ski Camp in Crested Butte at the end of 2014 to try skate skiing for the first time. We received a crash course in a half day and liked it enough to invest in some gear. The problem was we sucked at skate skiing. We not only required more time on skate skis, we needed more instruction. I decided to sign up for Eldora Women’s Days. Seven years earlier, I joined the program to improve my telemark skiing.
my local ski hill
Even though this program is specific to Eldora Mountain Resort and women, other mountains may offer similar opportunities. If you don’t live near Eldora, I encourage you to look into program offerings at ski hills near you or near places you might visit. Anything from one-time private lessons to longer term group programs are a good way to learn a new activity, improve your skills, make friends, and get out there. Don’t live in or near a wintery wonderland? The same thing applies to running, hiking, biking (mountain biking, fat biking, cycling, cyclocross), sailing, stand up paddle boarding (SUPing), swimming, angling, climbing (rock, ice), etc. And don’t forget walking! Walking is a low impact, easy, and wonderful way to get moving. The point is to be active and feel good about it and feel good about yourself.
i’m still friends with many of my ski gals from the program
I figured the start of the year would be an appropriate time to tell you about the Eldora Women’s Days program because 1) session 1 starts this week and 2) most people resolve to stick to their diet to lose weight, but fewer resolve to exercise to be healthy. Skinny does not equate to Healthy. Also? Dieting is boring. But exercise? That can be fun. REALLY fun.
clean slate (or clean corduroy, in this case)
Eldora Mountain Resort began the Women’s Days program to teach women how to alpine ski, snowboard, telemark ski, classic ski, or skate ski in a group setting that didn’t include men. Why? Well, the informal explanation is that a lot of men have these things called egos that take over their brains when they are around other men and especially around women. There tends to be more showboating and less learning when the ego(s) are present. So remove the egos and you get a fun, supportive, and comfortable environment in which particpants can learn, practice, and ask questions. They offer two sessions each year, the first is six weeks starting the first week of January and the second session is four weeks starting in mid-February. You can sign up for one or both sessions. Participants meet once a week and can choose Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or both days. For the truly hardcore, sign up for all ten weeks and both days – that’s some serious instruction time on the mountain. In my experience, groups have varied from 4 to 6 students plus one instructor.
telemark skills test on the first day
**Jump for more butter**
