Christie Porter

I am having a bad day. I leave my home office frustrated, load up my barely-used ski gear and accept the inevitability of my bad day continuing on the mountain. I drive toward Little Cottonwood Canyon for my second lesson (ever, in my whole life) at Alta Ski Area, and something happens as I crest the foothills and the towering walls of the canyon come into view. 

The snow-covered cliffs and pines form that classic Wasatch landscape in a color scheme of white, blue-purple and black. The still-suspended crystals of fresh snow and ice reflect the scant, cloud-diffused sunlight and dance in a fog around the peaks like a winter May pole. I have lived in Utah for twenty years, and I have to catch my breath at the sight of it. Then I breathe it in. The annoyances and mistakes that had worked me into a lather that morning shrink to appropriate significance when the Wasatch Mountains are shown for scale. (This is the third entry in the diary of a never-skier. Here are entries one and two.) 

I understand all at once why, for some, skiing is tantamount to a religion and the mountains are their temple. This is serenity. I’m not ready to fully convert just yet (I’ve already abandoned one high-demand religion), but I’m curious to hear what the faithful have to say. Maybe, if I’m not up to going every sabbath, I could be the kind of member who shows up just on major holidays?

I might have been able to savor the majesty of the landscape more, if not for the fact that I was still actively driving up the canyon. For those looking for another way up the mountain, there is a new ski shuttle service in town. Cottonwood Connect Ski Shuttle takes skiers (and snowboarders) to the top of the Cottonwood Canyons to Alta, Brighton, Snowbird and Solitude resorts. The shuttle is pretty affordable and runs Thursday–Sunday all season with multiple pick-up points at hotels and park and ride lots and flexible pick-up times. All riders need to do is reserve their trip in advance. If the desired time slot isn’t available, there’s always UTA Ski Service as well. 

Once I’m all checked in at Alta’s Ski School for my second lesson, the first thing my ski instructor Natalie does is take away my ski poles. I have lost my pole privileges. And it is freeing. Perhaps I had been relying on them too heavily during my first lesson, because I find just about everything I’ve learned so far—from traversing flat surfaces, uphill and sideways to turning—a bit less stressful without them. Natalie reiterates that she has taken my poles away so that I learn to use my legs for balance and control.

After a warm up, it’s time to ride my first lift. I confess I was and am more scared of the prospect of getting wiped out by a ski chair during a moment of distraction than I am of falling. So, we start small. The lift, as it turns out, does not zoom by, taking out the legs of skiers who couldn’t get into position in time or coldcock unsuspecting bystanders, as the threatening lifts in my imagination did. Rather, the Snowpine Lift ambles around in a friendly oval, rumbling gently as it scoops up skiers (who have plenty of time to skate from the line and into position). The best part is taking the ride to discuss classic ski films like Better Off Dead and share a mutual love of John Cusack with Natalie. The worst part is the bite of cold wind on the face while hovering up the hill. It’s a particularly cold day anyway, and with more cold days ahead in the forecast, I make a mental note for next time to shove handwarmers in my gloves and wherever else handwarmers can be shoved. 

The rest of the lesson involves me serpentining down increasingly steeper inclines. We take turns playing follow-the-leader, so I can learn to control my turns and keep a constant speed while following Natalie, and so she can watch me and make notes about my form. Once again, as I’m sliding in and out of wide C-shaped turns, it occurs to me that skiing is fun. As well as thrilling and a little bit peaceful. There is a quality of weightlessness about it, like I’ve escaped the influence of a sliver of gravity. Maybe I’ll convert, after all. 

Natalie cautions about a common beginner’s mistake: getting nervous as they pick up speed and leaning back to slow down. Apparently, taking weight off the tips of the skis will actually speed them up. I wouldn’t say I put this theory to the test right away, but there was some experimentation. By the end of my second lesson, I wanted more time and space to feel things out than the bunny hills could offer. They always say, leave them wanting more. Next lesson, I’ll likely get my wish. We’re moving up to the beginner-level runs, and I suspect I might get my poles back, too. 

For other never-skiers like me, check out my prior diary entry for deals and discounts for beginners. If you’re already a seasoned skier, I am open to any tips. What did you wish you had known your first few times out? What are poles even for? Downhill ski fights? (Like I said, I’ve seen Better Off Dead.) Send your wise nuggets of ski knowledge to us @slmag on all the socials (Facebook|Instagram|Twitter) or email magazine@saltlakemagazine.com. Stay-tuned for updates and further entries on saltlakemagazine.com.

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At the start of my first lesson, my ski instructor Natalie informs me that the people she teaches never fall down during the first lesson. This is meant to be comforting, but in my heart I know I’ll be the one to end this streak, and I am right. (If you’re likewise joining us for the first time, consider checking out my prior entry in the Diary of a Never-Skier before reading on.) 

Alta’s Ski School has already taught me plenty prior to my first official lesson. I learned my Honda Accord can safely make it up Little Cottonwood Canyon because I found out too late to make alternate plans that, at time of this writing, the UTA Ski Bus does not service Albion Day Lodge. Other lessons: Eat before skiing (observed after buying a burger at Albion Grill); there is no graceful way to walk in ski boots; how to rent and donn boots and skis. And, after all that, here I thought I was actually ready to ski.  

Instead, I was ready to pop off one of said skis and slide down a gentle slope on one foot. I have nothing in my prior athletic experience to which to compare the sensation of sliding, and a million words have already been written to describe it with more poetry than I can muster. Yes, yes, I’ve heard of sensations of bird-like flight and one-ness with winter, but I felt more like a thin, rootless tree swaying precariously in the wind. Then, I graduated to sliding on both skis…and back to feeling like a rootless tree swaying precariously in the wind while also wearing clown shoes. (If you’re thinking this is when I must have fallen, breaking poor Natalie’s record, you would be wrong.)

While the experience of other skiers had led me to expect a “french fry/snowplow” lesson, Natalie deserves far more credit than that. We started with the correct skiers’ stance and the terms of properly navigating the slopes on skis while not sliding downhill—traversing without sliding when needed, which is apparently a lot—and using Alta’s Transfer Tow. Pro tip: Despite what some videos on the internet might suggest, the tow rope is not meant to be straddled like a hobby horse.

(And, no, I did not fall while first trying to use the Transfer Tow, thanks to Natalie’s careful instruction. However, my gleeful abandon on the Transfer Tow did inspire Natalie to say she was tempted to put me on the conveyor belt used in kids’ lessons, and I kind of wish she had. It looks fun!)

While it was not immediately french fry or pizza related, Natalie did have a little dance that she wanted to show me, which looked like twisting one leg at a time and rotating each foot to point the toes inward. I can best liken it to a contained, more controlled version of Elvis’s rubber-leg dance move. Or more accurately, The Twist.

But I had faith. I had faith in Natalie and the piecemeal skills she was trying to impart. While on that gentle hill, I longed for a little more speed, a little more incline to explore, but I suspected what I actually needed was patience. From years of training in martial arts, I understand that rushing things could mean developing bad habits that I would have to break later and learning the basic techniques would create the necessary muscle memory on which to build progressively more advanced skills, and I didn’t have to wait long. Natalie’s little “ski dance” became the foundation I needed to execute something called “turns.” 

I will be the first to say it was intimidating to think of myself on the same slopes as people who have been skiing their entire lives (I saw literal infants solo on runs), but so much of that fear faded once I was actually there, and the first lesson was key in building that confidence. While I would call my first lesson with Natalie at Alta’s Ski School a rousing success, there are options out there for first-time skiers (that includes adults, too!). Many of Utah’s resorts also offer discounts for learners throughout the season on gear, lessons and lift tickets. For example: 

• Alta Ski Area offers a lift ticket for skiers to take the beginner lifts, Sunnyside and Albion, in the afternoons for just $69 (Remember: Alta is a ski-only resort). 

• Brighton also has a similar lift ticket option for its beginner lifts and is open to both skiers and snowboarders. 

• Eagle Point, the Beaver-based resort, has a Learn Together Program for children 5-7 with their parents.

• Powder Mountain offers a deal for first-timers that includes rentals, lift passes, and a three-hour lesson for $189. 

• Snowbasin Resort has a Learn & Earn program that provides three lift tickets, three lessons, season-long rental equipment and a season pass after instruction for $799.

• Solitude has Women on Wednesdays, which is available to women of all skill levels and taught by professional female instructors.

• The Ski Utah 4th, 5th & 6th Grade Passport lets young skiers and riders try out 15 Utah ski resorts, offering three days at each destination for $55.

• Ski Utah also offers Deals for Beginners. 

And since January is Learn To Ski Month, there really isn’t a better time to try. I suspected in my last entry that skiing might be fun, and I was right about that, too.

OK, then. Right. Bak to the falling bit. So, I fell three times, and it wasn’t Natalie’s fault. I fell once traversing a hill horizontal to the fall line combined with angling my skis the wrong way, starting to slide backwards and deciding that falling was better than backsliding into an innocent skier exiting the Transfer Tow. The second time, I fell was while trying to serpentine. I committed my body to the execution of a turn but failed to shift my weight, catching the wrong edge of my skis and losing my balance. The third time, I was trying to duck walk on a totally flat surface, crossed the tails of my skis and tripped myself like my own school-yard bully. 

I probably could have avoided falling down if I’d been worried about falling, but I’m not. I like falling. That’s how I knew, in my heart, that I was going to be the one who broke Natalie’s streak, even though I’m about two decades older than the average student. Those years of training in martial arts also broke me of the fear of falling. How to fall without injury was white-belt level stuff. Of course, falling in five-foot lacquer clown shoes is different in that 1) the snow cushions your fall more than a gym mat and 2) getting back up is much harder. The necessary mindset, however, I feel is the same. I’m not afraid of looking dumb, making mistakes, falling or asking stupid questions because that’s how I learn. As someone who has never skied before, what do I have to gain by pretending to know more than I do? Not a thing. But I could miss out on a lot of valuable information…like how to get back up after I fall. 

(Which, for the record, is kind of a bitch in skis.) 

My first entry in the Diary of a Never-Skier covers gear, some first-timer deals and Ski Utah’s Discover Winter program. But, I’m learning there are a lot of options out there for gear, too:

• Canyon Sports and Ski ‘N See in Salt Lake City

• Cole Sport and Jans Mountain Outfitters in Park City

• Alpine Sports, Diamond Peak and the Weber State University Outdoor Program in Ogden 

In my semi-frantic attempt to not walk (nor slide) into my first skiing venture totally unprepared, I collected tips (both requested and unsolicited) from my pals and co-workers who ski and was turned onto some of the resources from Utah’s Office of Tourism: 

• Why Ski School is Cool

• Learn to Ski (and Ride) Better

• How to Choose Ski Rentals

I’m still taking advice, by the way. If you’re already a seasoned skier, I am open to any tips. What did you wish you had known your first few times out? Do you pizza or french fry to stop? Send your wise nuggets of ski knowledge to us @slmag on all the socials (Facebook|Instagram|Twitter) or email magazine@saltlakemagazine.com. And, If you’re a never-skier like me, let me be your test case. Stay-tuned for updates and further entries on saltlakemagazine.com.

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It wasn’t until I walked into the offices of Ski Utah that, on the emotional spectrum of anxiety to excitement, I felt myself tip over the centerline. I went from “excitedly anxious” to ski for the first time to “anxiously excited” to ski for the first time. The office was decorated with piles of snow gear and clothing in preparation for Ski Utah’s Discover Winter program. It’s a program meant to remove barriers of entry specifically for adult first-time skiers of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. For me, it meant I wasn’t alone.  

I know, statistically, I can’t be the only 30-something, longtime Utah resident never to have skied before, but I have certainly felt like that was the case many times during the last 20 years. A lot of affluent kids with heli-skiing under their belts went to my Northern Utah County high school, and, even among the middle-class kids, I was a freak. Westminster College, my alma mater, has more winter olympians in attendance than the actual Olympics, so I continued to feel like something of an anomaly. And, no, I have never tried snowboarding either, which might have made me even weirder. Snowboarding made its Olympic debut right on the heels of the first Winter X-Games when a lot of kids my age were hitting the slopes for the first time. Everyone I knew had a snowboard. Except for me. I got over it, to put it bluntly, in the years since. I had missed the proverbial ski lift, and that was OK. 

That brings us to tonight. January is Learn to Ski Month and now there are programs like Discover Winter and deals to be had for new skiers, so there’s probably never been a better time for a never-skier like me to learn. (And who can ask for more than learning on the Greatest Snow On Earth?)

At Ski Utah, Director of Communications Alison Palmintere outfits me with the basics—jacket, pants, helmet, goggles, mask, etc.—like they would with Discover Winter participants. She excitedly informs me of perfect conditions for my first lesson, “The snow will be nice and soft tomorrow.” The excitement is infectious. Palmintere also confirms the oft-repeated proverb that, with skiing, I’ll spend less time on my butt, at least starting out, than people new to snowboarding. I have a feeling I could be the exception to the rule, but the images of tangled skis, twisted ankles and torn knees fade from my mind. It finally occurs to me, this could be fun. 

I’ll be in good hands, at the very least. Specifically, the pole-wielding hands of the instructors at Alta’s Ski School. Stay-tuned for updates and further entries on saltlakemagazine.com. If you’re a never-skier like me, let me be your test case. If you’re already a seasoned skier, I am open to advice. What did you wish you had known your first time out? Send your wise nuggets of ski knowledge and tips to us @slmag on all the socials. 

Starting Ski Gear:

• Helmet: Smith “Gage” with Bombshell construction in Matte Black Cherry 
• Jacket: Stio Men’s “Colter Down Jacket” in Saddleback
• Pants: TRBN Performance Women’s Pants in Black
• Goggles: Smith “Drift” with Fog-X anti-fog inner lens in Black
• Gloves: Hestra Women’s Primaloft Rib Knit – 5 Finger Glove in Dark Navy Print
• Socks: Darn Tough Vermont Women’s Merino Wool Over-The-Calf, Midweight with Cushion, Snow Socks in Charcoal 
• (And a Ski Utah Buff!)

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