It's been a while since I've completed any of these, since I was ill for a few weeks and then had lots of catching up to do, as well as other exciting new things which I don't have to tell you about. Anyway, I thought I'd crack on with some of these, and why not go for the big ones - 49 minutes of downhill skiing and 6 pieces of cheese fondue? I found out about a (happily 50-minute) skiing lesson available at my local indoor ski slope, and since I've never been skiing before and have no idea how, this was a sensible place to start.
Having arrived early, I spent a while getting changed and trying to figure out where to get skis and ski boots from, and then further how to put the boots on - they seemed really tight around the ankles, but eventually a man helped me to clip them closed, and assured me it's supposed to hurt like that (his precise words - 'They're not dancing shoes'). The lesson itself consisted of familiarising ourselves with skis and how to put them on and take them off, as well as stepping sideways up hills, turning to face down the hill without setting off (it's all about the big v shapes) and then how to not shit yourself when sliding forwards down the hill. You can't really see me very well in this picture, since it was hard from the viewing gallery, but I'm assured that the blob in the picture below is definitely me.
We didn't get much further than that, although we did get a good five or six runs down the short training slope. On each run the instructor told us to do a different thing, notably once 'heads, shoulders, knees and toes' to accustomise ourselves to being at different heights (and not looking at our feet, which is what makes you fall over). I, however, using my amazing skills (or should that be skiils) managed to fall over anyway, twice in fact, and got snow down the back of my pants. The rest of the time was spent marvelling at the presence of a great big pile of snow, somehow, inside a building, as well as the sheer quantity of shops and restaurants they managed to tack on in order to extract money from the hordes of people milling around comparing expensive ski paraphernalia.
When we got home, the fondue was broken out, and since I also don't know how to make fondue, and wasn't keen on putting wine or kirsch in, we had to make do with an approximation of fondue which the internet assured me could be made with chicken stock and using a bowl on a pan of water, in the absence of a fondue set. We ended up with a substance not entirely unlike fondue, but more akin to melted cheese living in a creamy soup, which was fine for dipping bread in, and substituted nicely in the absence of any chefs or Swiss people. Altogether a tiring but fun day, and hopefully now I can use this impetus to push on and complete this challenge.
