This weekend, after working from 9:30pm Saturday night to 6:30am Sunday morning, me and some friends went skiing. We were picked up by the bus to Linhai Ski Resort at 8:55am, and we started skiing shortly after 10. I, and 2 others (of the group of 9), were the only ones who knew how to ski. We did our best to show everyone else what to do, and by the end of the day, they were doing just fine without us. This made me quite happy because this was the 5th time I had gone to this place, and the first that I had been able to just ski without worrying about stopping and helping someone to their feet every five feet.

Linhai isn't a great place to ski, but it's nice enough for a moderate skier and wonderful for beginners. There are 3 hills and a 4th under construction, the snow is, unfortunately, the man made kind and applied with a tractor and pull behind snow makers, and there are 2 different ski times, day (9am to 4pm) and night (4:30pm to 10pm ... I think, could be 9). The "bunny slope" is by far the worst one to spend your time on (east most slope). There is very little slope to it, it's full of people falling down and learning not to fall down, and the snow, consequently, is packed hard. The center slope would still be considered a "bunny slope" at the ski resorts I've been to in the US, but it's the intermediate slope here. It is steeper, and fewer people venture onto it (so the snow is a little better), but it's no challenge, if you've been skiing before, as the slope is about 200 meters long and straight as an arrow. The slope furthest to the west is Linhai's "Black Diamond," unfortunately, it would probably get a rating of Blue square according to North American ratings, and a Red according to European ratings. I've only been skiing 9 or 10 times, in my life, and I found this hill to be fast, but fairly easy. It has a slight jog to the left and a slight increase in steepness about half way down, but it's very easy to negotiate. This slope is the one I enjoyed the most, as I said, it's fast, there are few people on it so the snow is nice and soft, and there were no lines for the lift. The part I liked the least is that it levels out way to soon and usually translated into some "cross-country" type skiing or taking the skis off to get back to the lift. So, that's my little run down of Linhai Ski Resort. It doesn't sound like a place to go if you're a really good skier, but it is about 4 to 5 hours closer to Dalian than the next closest resort, so that's a big bonus.

Now, back to my skiing story. After all of my companions ate lunch, me and two other guys decided we wanted to try snowboards ... man, I wish I hadn't. This was my first time to try a real snowboard and it showed. I fell on my head (had a headache for about 12 hours now), on my butt (pulled a muscle in my thigh), did a Pete Rose type belly flop, and landed on my right hand two or three times ... causing quite a bit of pain between my wrist and my knuckles. I was like all of those people I hate skiing with or around, I was falling 5 feet after I started or right after standing up, and if I did get going, it just meant I was going to fall hard when I lost it. I did that for about 2 hours, managed to make it 3/4's of the way down the "bunny slope" without falling, then decided to switch back to the skis for the rest of the day. Despite the pain caused, it was fun. This is the first time that Linhai's slopes had actually challenged me and I enjoy a challenge. I think I'll probably give it a try again when I go this coming weekend.

This a picture I took of Linhai from the highest hill.

And here is a satellite image from Google Maps. The longest slope shows a 'Y' near the top that comes back together near the bottom, the right arm of the 'Y' (as you're looking at it from the top of the hill) is the slope that's still under construction. If you want to see how far or get directions to/from Linhai to/from Dalian, just zoom out on the map and look due East to find the city.

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