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Hello and welcome to Lesson 29 of ESLpodTV. As you can see from the photo today’s show is going to be about skiing. I went yesterday for the first time in about 8 years and it was really nice to find I hadn’t lost the old skills though I was a bit rusty at first so kept to the beginner slopes.

I’m lucky because the ski grounds are only an hour north by bullet train from my house and there are lots of cheap discounts with train, lift pass, ski hire and hot spring ticket included.

Well, I left home at 8am and was soon queuing to ride the gondola to the ski slopes. The conditions were great. Blue skies and plenty of snow. I suited up and hopped on the chair lift.

Getting off at the top I was a little nervous and stiff because I was out of practice. After a couple of runs though, I got my confidence back and decided to have a go on the intermediate run.

So I had a great morning swooshing down the slopes and around one o’clock decided to have lunch in the mountain restaurant. While eating my curry I started to reflect upon the changes that had happened since the last time I went skiing.

The first of these is that most of the people on the slopes were snowboarders. Probably about 80% with the few skiers tending to be middle age guys like myself. My skis were also different. Much shorter and curved in the middle. This was good as they gave a lot more control when turning. Perhaps the biggest change was in me though. I’m definitely chubbier around the middle. Probably because I haven’t been skiing in 8 years!

Well, the day was soon over and after a relaxing dip in the hot spring I caught the train home. I made a promise to myself that it wouldn’t be 8 years before I went skiing again. In fact, I have plans to go again next week. This time, with friends.

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