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Downhill Eraser
| Article
# : |
12220 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1987 |
1,642 Words |
| Author
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Ralph Schoenstein
Ralph Schoenstein is the author of fifteen books, including
Every Day Is Sunday, recently published by Little and Brown.
As a television essayist, he has done humorous commentary for
the ABC Evening News and The Today Show. Mr. Schoenstein, a
resident of Princeton, New Jersey, has done extensive magazine
writing for national publications. |
The sign in the van said LAST PURGATORY PICKUP AT 4:30, but it was not a message from God. It was a reference to transportation from a 10,000-foot mountain in southwestern Colorado, where I was about to learn how to ski. The van had brought me twenty miles from Durango to a resort where hundreds of people were gathered for the sport that warms an orthopedist's heart.
After checking in, I unpacked and tried to forget that all my previous skiing had been behind a boat on a lake in Maine. Then I went to the ski shop to select my gear.
"I'd like a pretty short ski," I said to the young man working there.
"They run from 130 to 180 centimeters," he said rather stiffly.
"Have you got anything skateboard size?"
"Oh, you look like you could handle the 150s."
"They come right off when you fall - don't they?" I said nervously.
"Absolutely. With these safety skis, if you break something, it's usually just a small bone in the ankle."
"My entire ankle is just a small bone," I said, "so I really can't spare any of it. You see how thin I am. In fact, maybe there should be more of me to resist the
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