Skiing

The last time I went skiing I was either a sophomore or junior in high school. I missed out on a couple ski trips that my friends went on recently, so it had been a very long time. William use to snowboard fairly often, but again, that was too many years ago. We had the opportunity to go this past weekend with a couple people from the Lukoil Refinery, Marie and Sergei. Another UOP guy, Ryan, also went with us.

After an about an hour taxi drive, and one minor spin out on the snowy side road, we made it to the ski resort, Habarskoe. We were warned a head of time that it was windy out, but it was a bit worse than I had thought. It was also snowing, so that was blowing everywhere as well. When Sergei and Marie arrived, we found out why the area was so empty. The slopes were closed due to the windy and near white out conditions on the hill. We did the next best thing, go the the restaurant to get drinks and snacks. Marie and I had some coffee while the guys had some beers. We enjoyed the company, although things were not quite as planned.

Soon, we saw the lifts going, and the restaurant was clearing out. The hill was now open! We decided to only rent for an hour at first, just because it was so windy out, which made it quite chilly at times. William was the only one to be on a snowboard in our group.

Marie and Sergei are professionals compared to us. Although I only fell down the hill once, it was pretty steep and icy at times.  The lift is a bit different than the usual chairlift I was expecting to see. This is a surface lift that uses a T-bar attached to a cable, while we are being pushed back up the hill.

Ryan and William 

Sums up how the day went.

Just about an hour in, we were more confident, but a bit worn out. We went back to the restaurant for food and drinks. Hoegaaarden beers, borsch (beetroot soup), then a chicken and potatoes dish. Food was very good.

Borsch 

We definitely plan on going skiing again while we are here. It was a blast!