Owwwwwwwww

I got run over by a chairlift yesterday.

I don't know how old I was when I started skiing but it was pretty early. My parents would take us up to Lake Tahoe every season. I took private lessons and was skiing black diamond runs as far back as I can remember. So how the hell did I fall of the chairlift at Terry Peak? A slow chairlift at that?

I admit I wasn't really paying attention. I had realized, a moment earlier, that I hadn't taken the straps of my poles from around my wrist. I was so furiously trying to get my pole situation fixed that I didn't even realize that I was slipping forward into the path of the oncoming chair.

"Molly, where you going?" yelled Ruben.

Well... I slid right into a chair (at a 90 degree angle) that was meant for a couple of men who were, clueless as to what was happening behind them, patiently waiting for their ride up the hill.

So I immediately sat down and tried to get my skis pointed in the right direction so I could slide in between the two of them and save the situation. I thought I was safe until the very tip of my ski caught his boot.

That's when I got sucked under. It was like getting sucked into a rip tide (for those of us who have experienced it, it's scary). I went down... hard. My skis were under, then my calves, then my hips. The man on the lift was trying to grab me and pull me back up but I was done and I didn't want to be drug any further then I already was. I screamed at him to me go. He did.

I fit perfectly under that chair lift. Not one snag on my gear, no scratches, only a small bruise on my leg. I was damn lucky. Had I been larger, taller, or less flexible, I would have been badly injured.

The boys operating the ski lift didn't even stop it until I went down. It was about 15 seconds too late to prevent my ski chair limbo demonstration. They got me up right away and I just hopped on the chair I was originally supposed to take up the mountain. I was laughing most of the ride until Ruben started talking about the metal blade that I just managed to slip under and how every bad accident that he has seen on the mountain (he used to be an instructor) was either getting on or off the lifts.

I admit I was lucky. I have a pretty large bruise on my leg and my hips and back are a little tweaked, but I'm okay. It's mostly my ego that is bruised. I'm going to have to go buy new ski clothes so one can recognize me.