Kaiser-Franz-Josef Hütten, Tyrol, Austria [Monday, daytime]

[thatsweirdright]

Good morning Fandom High students, teachers, and assorted guests! Ready to hit the slopes? The answer had better be 'yes', because that's what was happening today whether you liked it or not. Once your lesson was done, of course, you were free to do as you wished, whether that was continue hurtling down a mountain at ridiculous speeds while strapped to long sticks, or go warm up with some delicious hot beverages.

Comments

Mandatory Fun on the Slopes

[thatsweirdright]

The lodge helpfully provides buses to take us to our ski lessons. Sadly for you, those buses leave way sooner than your teenaged selves want to get up for it. Here you are provided with ski equipment and ski instructors for your group as you self-select for level of skiing prowess. Please keep the number of broken legs to a minimum, gang. It's only the first day.

Beginners

[thatsweirdright]

What it says on the tin!

Re: Beginners

[not_of_the_nora]

Aloy eyed the flat sticks she was supposed to put on her feet. "So... what is the purpose of this again?" she asked.

She turned her head and watched the slopes for a moment, tuning out the ski instructor.

"Of course. Speed."

That was not the lesson the instructor had been trying to impart.

Re: Beginners

[giveherahand]

"How hard can it be?" Mara asked with a philosophical little shrug. "Gravity's going to do most of the work, right?"

Re: Beginners

[not_of_the_nora]

"It's probably still a question of balance," Aloy mused. "But no, I can't see it taking a great deal of work."

Re: Beginners

[giveherahand]

"Or skill," Mara said erroneously. "Other than the trees, what's there to worry about?"

Re: Beginners

[not_of_the_nora]

"Acceleration?" Aloy offered, putting one of the skis down on the ground. "The faster you go, the harder fine movement becomes?"

Not that this would stop her from trying.

Re: Beginners

[giveherahand]

"That makes sense," Mara said, "but is that what the sticks are for? To help slow down or something? Like brakes."

Re: Beginners

[era_two_triangle]

Well... Peridot had better things to be doing with her time (mostly involving getting buried under snow drifts that were easily taller than she was), but once she had skis on her feet she was kind of stuck for it, wasn't she?

She watched people going down the ski hill for a few minutes, and then looked down at the boots on her feet. She'd be more thrilled about the mandatory appearance modifiers if the ski attachments weren't so big and ungainly.

Re: Beginners

[thatsweirdright]

And there was Jason, shuffling over Peridot's way once he managed to get his own skis on.

"I was gonna ask if you've ever done anything like this before, but you're here in the newbie corner with me, so. Question answered, I guess."

Re: Beginners

[era_two_triangle]

Peridot lifted up one foot and gave it an experimental wiggle, and then did the same with her other one.

"Question definitely answered," she agreed. "Why do humans do this?"

Re: Beginners

[thatsweirdright]

"Why do humans do anything?" Jason shrugged. "Because it's fun, mostly."

Okay, once upon a time, skiing was probably a purely practical mode of travel, but these days it was really more recreational. Especially the downhill version.

Re: Beginners

[era_two_triangle]

"I should have guessed," Peridot sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head at that. "So, do you suppose it's much different from jumping, then? More control, perhaps..."

She wanted to start pacing as she pondered this.

... Skis made the attempt into more of a thoughtful shuffle.

Re: Beginners

[thatsweirdright]

"More time to build up momentum," Jason pointed out.

Also obstacles. Skiing had obstacles.

Re: Beginners

[misshapen_spark]

"Oh. My. God." Yang, stop tripping over your skis. "People do this for fun?"

Someone was from a flat-ish island, yes.

Intermediate

[thatsweirdright]

If you've done this once or twice...

Re: Intermediate

[revengenotebook]

Paris might qualify for advanced skiing, but she wasn't confident in her ability not to break her leg on the Alps. Plus this instructor seemed cuter than the other one, so...priorities.

Re: Intermediate

[furnaceface]

Jono was fairly certain that, after fighting a guerilla war in the mountains of a territory called Glacia, he probably qualified as an expert. But that had been a few years back, in an entirely different body, so he'd at least made a slight nod to common sense and opted to take the intermediate class, instead.

He was even rocking a new scarf today. Because... hell. It was chilly, and the scarf was admittedly pretty cozy. So, there was that.

Re: Intermediate

[sharp_man]

And Hannibal could probably have gone for advanced, too, but he was better acquainted with cross-country than hurtling down mountains, and he hadn't been in some time, so he would keep Jono company.

His own scarf was perfectly acceptable, but he had an awesome hat.

Re: Intermediate

[furnaceface]

Jono maintained that Hannibal's hat was the stupidest hat in Austria.

//It's all familiar stuff,// he noted, once there was a break in the lesson. //You picking up anything new at all?//

Re: Intermediate

[sharp_man]

That was because Jono had no sense of fashion.

"Nothing new," Hannibal answered, "but a few reminders. It's good to have it in the front of my mind."

As the instructor wrapped up, Hannibal turned to Jono and smiled. "Shall we?"

Re: Intermediate

[furnaceface]

Jono had a fantastic sense of fashion. Case in point: It didn't involve earflaps.

//Let's,// Jono replied, nodding. //It'll be strange doing this without half as many trees to run into, y'know. I probably could've faked my way through expert anyhow.//

Now was probably not the time for second thoughts, there.

Maybe he'd take the class again tomorrow if today went well.

Re: Intermediate

[sharp_man]

It was just about all black, half jeans, and dotted with occasional holes.

"I might have been able to as well, but it's been some time," Hannibal said. "Your last time was Glacia?"

Advanced

[thatsweirdright]

Those of you who make a habit of hurtling down mountains at ridiculous speeds, go here.

Re: Advanced

[magnusrushesin]

Magnus really should have gone with one of the easier slopes, but here he was instead. Making use of his athletics skills.

"THIS IS AWESOME."

And shouting a lot as he hurtled downhill at high speeds.