The first couple rented a sail boat for the first time and spent the weekend on the docks and sailing the boat in the harbor. They had a great weekend sleeping on the boat, walking into town and taking in all of the experience of being on salt water. When they returned from the weekend, their friends asked how they'd spent the weekend. "We went sailing!" was their answer.
The second couple were more experienced and sailed their boat along the shore of Cape Cod, exploring some of the Cape's harbor towns. They too, had a great time. They stayed close to shore due to high winds and docked their boat on Sunday night with smiles on their faces. When they returned from the weekend, their friends asked how they'd spent the weekend. "We went sailing!" was their answer.
The third couple were experienced sailors. They revelled in the high winds and went straight out to the open ocean on Friday afternoon. Rails were in the water all weekend as the flew across waves. Challenges of tangled lines and torn sails slowed them down a bit, but they set a personal record sailing from Hyannis to Nantucket. When they returned from the weekend, their friends asked how they'd spent the weekend. "We went sailing!" was their answer.
All three couples had a great time -- all described it the same way. "We went sailing!"
In the same way there are a lot of ways to experience skiing -- on the green runs, on the groomers, bumps, out of bounds, etc.
Today, we went Skiing (with a capital S!).
The plan: be lowered by rope about 160 feet into a vertical couloir. Anchor skis into the snow, unclip the carabiner from the rope and ski an amazing 12K run into Alagna, another valley away.
Nigel is a very experienced guide and climber. His plan for the day stretched us -- at least Andy, Jeff and me (Erik has done this before).
Erik took this picture of us on the saddle looking in:
What follows next is a video of the day -- apologies in advance for the rope drop in -- you get a lot of carabiner. I was not paying attention to the camera. I was trying hard not to wet my pants!
https://vimeo.com/37720694
More tomorrow!
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