Some random thoughts on a recent failed ski trip and the global pandemic
Skiing
First things first, I have absolutely no clue on how to ski, zero experience whatsoever, so naturally I had to sign up for my company's Ski trip. In total there were 37 people in the group.
We got to a cabin close to a ski resort after a four and a half hour drive on Wednesday, all went well except for some icy paths on the way but that is another story (just don't do summer tires and front 2 wheel drive on them, you'll suffer a lot)
Keep in mind that this trip officially started on the same day COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic, so we already knew that we were going back and working from home, universities and schools were already considering closing at the time.
On Thursday we had fun, people who knew their stuff geared up and went to ski (alpine) while some other noob and me went to get the gear we had pre-booked, this was the beginning of the end for me, I didn't realize that the boot size was wrong, trusting the staff at the shop and thinking “I guess they know their stuff, I guess these are supposed to be tight and cut off your blood circulation”, it was very uncomfortable but I just went with it.
Us noobs decided it would be wise to pay for a lesson and after a few rounds at the kids area we were surprised to see we were not completely useless, I wasn't able to turn or break completely but I wasn't that bad either. Our instructor figured we could do harder stuff (either that or just wanted to have a laugh, we'll never know) and took us to one of he “beginner” slopes (never trust Norwegians when they say a slope is easy, for them skiing is just like breathing). That's when my spectacular falls started, all of a sudden I couldn't remember what to do or coordinate movements.
By the time I could more or less manage to go down a slope using a zig-zag motion and more or less break decently, my feet were basically destroyed and my legs were cramping. I had to take off the skis and walk to the resting area because by then the pain was unbearable.
Right after taking the ski boots off I realized I had a bit of a problem: I just couldn't move my feet or walk. I found myself thinking “well, shit”. I had to contact the group and request help because I was stuck, luckily a good hearted colleague came to the rescue and gave me a lift back to the cabin. Some rest and time in the sauna (and some very amazing home brewed beer) made me feel better, but that afternoon everyone was in for a surprise.
COVID-19
Effectively immediately the ski resort would be closing down following official government mandates to prevent the spread of COVID-19 so basically the trip was ruined for everyone that got here on Wednesday (some people had been at the cabin since Sunday). Arrangements were made to go back today or on Saturday while waiting for more news.
Feeling a bit disappointed everyone had dinner while receiving more bad news: apparently people had started hoarding toilet paper, because, you know, stupid people are everywhere. I messaged some friends because I couldn't believe it at first but sadly I was totally wrong.
So here I am now, Friday morning, after breakfast, writing about our failed trip and preparing to be isolated from the world for quite a while, I'll probably have to buy a decent headset/webcam and figure out how to get off of my landlord's WiFi repeater and get my own contract. The next few weeks are going to be fun...
