The first time I got on a pair of skis I thought, okay, now what do I do. Every time I stood up, I fell down. Loon Mountain was mobbed with people from all over and there were skis everywhere! When I went out for my lesson with the Massachusetts Ski Club, I had a great time. The first thing they tell you is to fall down. I'm not kidding. The point was you had to get up from there, but with your skis on. Then off to the ski lifts. Bump. Thud. I kept falling down. That mountain sure looked big.

The next week I went with the Mass Ski Club to Mount Sunapee, which was also in New Hampshire. That week we worked on turning, and then,uh, oh , the chairlift. I knew I was going to sit down too soon and land on my butt. Finally, I did get on the lift and looked back, but before I knew it I forgot to get off and was on my way back down again. People were going up on one side and I was going back down. Was I embarrassed!

Once I got the hang of it, both skiing and going on the chairlift (and getting off), was great. Now I'm an intermediate skier and the mountain doesn't look quite as big anymore.

So, try skiing. If I can do it, so can you! n