Aspen Day 2 - Lost the Snowstorm Sweepstakes

BUT it turns out, this mountain (Snowmass) is sooooo awesome that it didn't really matter. There is just so much snow. And I skiied like I've never skiied before on a first day. Or maybe like I've never skiied beefore, period.

And the yoga matters. A lot. The husband has been skiing for way longer than me - since he was a kid. And he's quite a bit more accomplished than I am when it comes to his skiing technique. But today, it hardly mattered. His fitness regime of stairmaster, the occasional yoga class (once a week, if at all) and maybe a bit of pushups and situps left him sucking wind and complaining of leg cramps. By contrast, I sailed through the black diamond mogul runs with nary a whinge. Not that it's a beautiful sight to behold, me careening down the bump runs. But still, I felt good. It's like with the backbending - maybe it doesn't look all that pretty. But if it feels good, I must be doing something right.

We ran into a friend of ours while picking the kids up from Ski School, and when he asked us how things went, and I was all, "It ROCKED" and the husband was all, "It sucked - the altitude, the heavy snow, the bumps killed my quads..." and our friend was all, "hmmmm?", the husband had to concede: She's in better shape than me. There, he said it. The YOGA. It's the yoga.

In particular, I would have to say that my emphasis on the legs in backbending, coupled with my repetition of Pasasana in my home practice (usually about three times), has served to strengthen my legs and more importantly, to increase my muscular endurance. When you think about what Pasasana is - a deep, deep, squat plus a twist - it seems like a really important posture for prepping for a ski vacation.

I'm going to bathe now, and maybe do some Sun Sals. I will try to do a full practice at least one day this week. But I am not going to worry about it. That would be counterproductive, no?

YC