Shaoxing Indoor Skiing

Indoor skiing and boarding?! 

OKAY!!!

A friend I'd met on my first outdoor trip in China shot me a text earlier last week to ask if I'd like to go indoor skiing. Ummmm DUHH!!

I'd wanted to for my birthday but they'd closed the one in Shanghai. 

This one was three hours away. Her colleagues had put together the trip so I was extra thrilled to be spending the weekend with a group of locals!

It was an experience....as all trips anywhere in China have proved to be. By anywhere I mean: the toilet, the grocery store, restaurants, walking, the elevator, and OF COURSE trips in and outside of the city.

The "lift". 

There was also a T-bar but it was closed the majority of the time. My favorite place to chill was at the top of the hill just off the T-bar. It's all about the entertainment factor...

Did I mention I got back on a snowboard?! Second time ever. First time since breaking my pelvis.

I've said I'd never get on one again because I had no desire to fall. However, this joint seemed to be the perfect place to give it a go.

It was FANTASTIC!!!   

Even so, by the end of our three hours my hips were screaming. Thus, I made an attempt to do a Snowboard Group Yoga class! The dudes seemed less than thrilled to follow suit.

Party poopers.

The gang!!

One of the men brought a book on Mastering Snowboarding. He said he stayed up late reading it. 

My out-of-shape self and my annoying old lady hips had had enough after a few hours. I headed for the pillow-like toys in the kids area and created my own fun!

The next day I decided to ski. Basically, it was either: opt to ski or see if the hotel had a hot tub I could soak in for a couple hours while they did their thing at the dome! Both were  appealing. However, public pools in China often lose to non-shared water sources. In this case? Skiing.

It was a blast cruising down the runs! People thought I was a pro. For real. Multiple people came up to me and asked where I was from and if I was a professional skier.

I'm fairly certain it's because I did two things: used poles and made turns.

Chinese may have high standards for learning English, but not so much for outdoor sports. 

Thankfully the same principle goes for a white face. The days I'm overly tired and super pale  are the days I get the most positive comments and looks. It's really rather nice! Until I'm bluntly told I need to get rid of the bags under my eyes so my pale skin will look more vibrant!

Can't a gal just have it all for once?? PLEASE? 

This spunky lady kept skiing backwards unintentionally. I wasn't any help as I'd keel over in laughter watching her somehow keep her pizza slice going as she meandered down the run backwards.

Thankfully, I was able to give her some pointers my phenomenal "coach" has given me throughout the years. She was a quick learner. By the end of the day she'd stopped the pizza slice craziness and was making turns well!

I could talk of the smelly locker rooms, the trash at the top and sides of the runs, the fact the workers didn't even appear to think to keep the trash from falling down the hills, etc. 

But none of that mattered. After all, I was indoor skiing in China. What did I expect?

Pushing.

Mass pile-ups in the middle of the runs.

None of that happened!

What I remember best was this:

Breathing.

Breathing brisk, cool air and pretending it was mountainous air.

Soaking in the memory and love of His creation.

Being in awe of how close I felt to Him in this building, doing what I love, in a multitude of ways.