Downhill

We took most of an hour just enjoying the landscape and getting ready to ski downhill. After going over the kind of decent that could be expected including the treacherous narrow canyon that we would have to pass through before coming out in the broad gentle slope that would mark the end of the decent, Peter launched of himself down the shadowy side of airport peak. The twins followed like a green and orange pool of light. On her insistence, Karen went after her mother because although she had the greater stamina, she guaranteed that her mother was the better skier.

Apart from the canyon near the end, the downhill run on this side of airport peak is quite gentle with a few locations where more challenging route can be taken. Noting the aptitude of our group, Peter took through all of them.

On the gentler slopes I came to appreciate not only Lizzy’s physical appearance, but skiing last gave me the opportunity to examine her every move which betrayed her skills. Every turn, every hop and drop were taken with absolute comfort and confidence. Karen, who skied between Lizzy and me, had been right about her mother’s skiing abilities. She herself was far from bad, but didn’t have the effortlessness that her mother displayed. A few times Karen had to correct after a drop and once she even had to go off track to keep her balance.

As every guide will know: you never tell everything. In this case this means that we left a few surprises en route unsaid. The downhill run would take us about one hour to complete and about midway we would come up to the first surprise. A frozen lake.

In summer the hiking trail around the lake was very popular, in winter the downhill run went straight over it. A steep decline gave you enough speed to race over the frozen water. The group loved it. Skiing on ice is quite weird as your skies find very little hold on the surface making steering all but impossible. We shot out over the ice, aiming in a straight line for the opposite bank where a natural ramp of barely 10 meters wide would let us exit the frozen arena. That’s where the first incident occurred.