Restorative Health Journey: Pamporovo Skiing!

Looking out our hotel windows, we could see that the snow was melting - fast. The weather acted up earlier this week, surprising us with a glorious thunder and lightning rainstorm on Monday night. We'd been laying low for two days in a row, while it rained off and on, exposing more brown earth and dead grass on the ground. We realized that if we wanted to go skiing, we had better get our butts up to Pamporovo ASAP and ski before there wasn't any snow left.

So on Tuesday night as we all sat together at the dinner table, it was decided that a ride would be arranged the next morning for anyone who wanted to go skiing or just get out and get some fresh air and exercise at Pamporovo. A total of six of us ended up going, with only my Mom and I skiing, while the rest of them hung out inside the small lodge, enjoying the view of the slopes while warmed by the fireplace.

I'd been feeling really good those last three days, as my protocol had changed from CDS to MMS and wasn't feeling the effects of detox. My Mom, however, had been dealing with some intense shoulder and side ache pain, but she pulled herself together as she was quite determined to ski.

I was particularly excited to go skiing because I hadn't been on a pair skis since I was about 15 or 16 years old, which was the time I had started snowboarding and had been up until yesterday. I had skied from about four years old until I started snowboarding, but the technology back then were long, straight heavy skis with ill-fitting boots. I'd been aware for the last several years that ski designs and technology had greatly improved and was opening up to the idea of skiing again. Plus I was getting so over having to unbuckle and buckle my snowboard bindings every time I rode the chairlift or wanted to get anywhere on flat surfaces.

We both had brought all our ski clothes, gloves, helmet and goggles, so all we needed to do was rent the skis, boots and poles. The chairlift and rental prices were gentle on our wallets - $25 for an all-day lift ticket and $13 for the rental. True, Pamporovo is no Mammoth Mountain, but considering that my Mom needed to take it easy and it was my first time skiing in many years, it was perfect for us.

I'll tell you what - from the very first moment I started transporting myself on the skis over to the chairlift and later started skiing down the hill, it was as if I'd never stopped skiing. I was exhilarated by how responsive my skis were to every turn I made. I couldn't recall skiing ever being that easy. While I had a great time snowboarding for the last 21 years, I think I'm a true ski convert!

We started with some of the easier runs to see how we both did and within only a few runs found ourselves at the top of a black diamond run called The Wall. It was basically a steep, nearly mogul-less slope that had compact, groomed but skiable snow. We skied on that several more times while stopping every hour on the hour to have our drink of the MMS protocol down at the ski rental place, where we left our belongings.

Snezhanka TV tower at the very top next to chair lift

At the top of The Wall

At noon we said a quick hello to everyone else in the lodge and then proceeded back up to have lunch at the mountaintop lodge. By then the weather had picked up and it was snowy and blustery at the top. We sat near the big windows and watch the snow swirl by as we ate potatoes, Greek salad, goulash and bun-less hamburger for lunch.

Mom was starting to feel more pain after all that skiing before lunch and was thinking she could last for just a few more runs. On our way from the lodge over to the beginning of the ski run by the chair lift, we could see from a distance that the rest of the crew actually rode the lift up! They just wanted to get out and explore and because it was so windy at the top, they just went over to the lodge where we'd just had lunch and hung out there while we did our last few runs for the day.

By the time we were done, the snow had become what my Dad used to call "Sierra Cement", referring to the wet and heavy afternoon slush of the Sierra Mountains in California. Regardless, I was having so much fun I could've skied all day. I had more energy than I knew what to do with. Mom had reached her limit but I was so proud of her for pushing through the discomfort and not letting it get in the way of having some fun.
Afterwards, while waiting for everyone else to come down off the mountain, we sat in the lodge and had some tea. A man selling bells sat nearby us to organize his inventory. I took the opportunity to photograph him and his bells, which he sold to skiers to wear while skiing. They're worn to alert those below them that they were coming up behind them. We bought a bell each (and got one free) as a souvenir. I plan to wear mine next time I go skiing.