Hitting the slopes

Back in PyeongChang in 2018, the media were offered a chance to take a tour of the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. We visited the DMZ museum, journeyed out to a lookout on the edge of the DMZ where we looked directly into North Korea and also stopped at a Buddhist temple. To this day, it remains one of the coolest things I've ever had the chance to experience.

In the next two Olympics, the chances to do things out in the cities that I was visiting was completely limited by COVID. In Tokyo, once we cleared 14 days in the city, we were free to move about the city if we wanted, but COVID was in a major spike in Tokyo at the time and it was advised that if you do go out, be careful. I chose not to, for a number of reasons. Then in Beijing, once we were in the bubble, we were not allowed out until it was time for us to go. It would've been great to visit the Great Wall or see numerous other things, but it just wasn't possible.

Then came Paris when all the shackles were off and it was great to be able to walk around the city again and see things. One of the great parts about the Paris Olympics was that many events were held at some historic locations, which made it even easier to see things. Equestrian at Versailles, urban sports park at Plaza de Concorde, beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower. The list goes on and on. And I was also able to take time on my own to get out and see things like Notre Dame Cathedral (which was still under construction).

In Italy, I took part of a day in Milan to go to Duomo Plaza and see the sights in the city and it was great. And then in Cortina, I took part of a day and just walked around the village, taking in the atmosphere and the picturesque location that I was in.

Yesterday (Monday) was a day that I didn't have much on the schedule that was easily accessible for me, so I decided to go skiing, which is something that you should do when you're in the mountains of Italy. I had walked up to the ski slope near my hotel a few days earlier and there was a big race going on, so I decided to wait. Monday was the day.

I walked up the hill and went into this small building that seemingly had as many rentals as a massive ski area in the US. They had both Nordic and downhill skis, as Sud Tyrol, the region I am staying in, is a huge cross-country skiing Mecca (I can watch the groomers outside my window every night going up and down the valley). I went to a kiosk and put in my height and weight and other information and then a nice woman got me set up with boots, skis, poles, helmet (required by law in Italy) and even goggles. I expected a hefty bill, but it was 40 euros for the entire day.

I then went upstairs and bought a ticket. Knowing I had to make my way down to the village at the bottom of the valley to do some laundry in the afternoon, I bought a two-hour ticket, which was all of 19 euros. And from there, I got on the lift (basically a t-bar) and headed up the slope.

Truth be told, it was much longer of a slope than it looked from the base and I got in a bunch of runs without too many people there. I didn't have gloves or ski pants, so it wasn't the ideal situation, but I was still able to ski for almost two hours without any issues. About the time my ticket was getting close to expiring, a large group of students came in for lessons and the like and the lift line got a little longer, so I timed it out perfectly.

Skiing in the mountains of Italy is not something I ever thought I would do. But I can say now, that I did and to me, that's kind of cool.


Standing at the top of the ski slope near my hotel in Valle di Casies in northern Italy.

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