Thwack! I look down to find my left ski is gone, and I’m wondering why the slope is now sideways and in the sky. After grinding to a halt some tens of feet downhill, it appears a small hill—called a mogul—decided to remove a ski. Once that ski was gone, its twin also decided to ditch along with their friends, my poles. This is what they call a “yard sale.”

Then there is the chair lift. If ever a mechanism was created out of malice, this is it: a giant whirling machine whose singular goal is throwing a cold steel chair at you when you’re not ready for it. And what’s worse is the ending. The machine tosses you off onto a little slope where there are hoards of little kids watching to laugh when you fall down. And those are the same kids you watch absolutely fly off the jumps. How did they get so good?

OK. So maybe I’m not a pro. Maybe I’m not even competent. But it’s a good time. We spend so much time indoors with artificial lighting and loaded with stress that its easy to forget to have fun once in a while. And what better a way than skiing? First of all, it can be very social both in the lodge at the base of the mountain and on the bus to and from. Second, it is pretty good exercise, which never hurts in keeping that winter donut off the middle. Finally it is a change of setting, which a lot of us can use.

Fortunately, there are people around to help out. The RPI Ski Club has excellent Friday night programs going to two different mountains, as well as weekend trips. They even do rentals. But maybe best of all, the officers of that club go skiing with you, which can help if you happen to be lying in the snow, having lost your skis.

Perhaps the best part of the trip, for me, is the lodge. It makes life civilized. It’s the reason a lot of us go skiing—the thought of a warm fire and a cool something to drink while chatting with the other skiers and snowboarders. It’s impossible to feel low at the lodge.