NanShan Ski Resort: Skiing and Snowboarding

For a Christmas present, Ally got us a weekend away to a ski resort. I have never been skiing and I was very excited. We were staying over night and the hotel was supposed have a fire place and all. We get to the bus and we were told people would speak English. No one spoke any English. Not at the bus, not at the ski resort, and not at the hotel but we made it. The first day we arrived and got right to it by getting our gear and going. I practiced on the starting hill two times with my ski's and we moved right on to what we thought were the larger beginner course. We had a blast. Turns out that we were on the intermediate courses all day. The next courses would be all the way at the top of the mountain or the course with jumps and other obstacles. Surprisingly, we both got bored with skiing because it was too easy. We tried to trade in the skis for snowboards but we were not allowed. So we took a break, got lunch and looked for the hotel we were staying at. That was a process but we finally found it by going up this back path that was all ice. We check in and find out room and the fire place is electric and on top of that you were not allowed to use it for safety purposes. Haha oh well. We went back out a few more times and called it a night.

We planned to eat a restaurant at the skiing area but they were closed by the time we were done eating so we decided to just eat at the hotel. We got there and motioned that we wanted to eat but they showed us the menu. ALL IN CHINESE AND NO PICTURES! Luckily, there was a group of younger people that spoke English. They were really nice. They helped us order, let us eat with them, and at the end they paid for our dinner. We couldn't thank them enough. 

The next day we were ready for some snowboarding; or so I thought. I knew it was going to be harder but me being the athlete I thought I would be able to catch on somewhat quickly. However, I stayed on the beginner slopes the whole day and by staying on the slopes I mean I was sitting on them. I was on my butt the whole time because I fell every five feet. I had one really good run where I even went around someone. Half way through the day we were sore and tired and we were going down one of the slopes that doesn't allow you to go too fast. Ally is behind me all day to help me. All of a sudden she falls going about 2 mph and cant get up for a while. She believes she broke her tailbone. By that time we were both too sore to continue. We got some lunch, hung out, and waited for the bus to arrive. I had a good time and can't wait to go again.