Now that most resorts have about a month left before they close their lifts, I would like to share with you all some things to keep in mind before you first attempt skiing. I first tried alpine skiing back in January and while I did have fun during the day I went, there are some things that I would want to do better if I could try it again.

You have to learn to crawl before you can walk, so simply learning the feeling of standing and moving in all directions while wearing skis is important. Some people even have trouble with getting that down, but keep it up and you should be able to walk even uphill and not be tripping over yourself.

If you’re with instructors, they’ll have you go through the basic movements of stopping and later turning while going down a short distance on the bunny hill. That’s well and good, but here is when you might get into some trouble trying to get the feeling down. Whether you’re still under the supervision of instructors or not, try going down the bunny hill completely while doing these maneuvers, going side-to-side and being able to slow down and come to a complete stop.

Some people are able to do it for the first time when they first put on skis and some people might need more than one day’s experience trying to get those movements down. My point is that the most important thing is to be able to consciously perform all of those moves. No matter how many times you may have been told to “just pizza it,” if you can’t slow down or stop when you want to, then you need to keep practicing until you can.

Once my hours with the instructor were over, I talked with her a bit later and she said that the best thing to do to prove if I could go onto the real slopes was if I could walk up a bit higher from the bunny hill and come from the top to the bottom without any problems. I attempted it twice and both times, I couldn’t really stop myself and nearly crashed into someone.

It was not a good look and an obvious sign that I needed more practice.

Skiing is a fun and addicting sport that makes time fly by while you’re going down the slopes. I would encourage people to try it if they’re interested, but know that you will need to take your time practicing and getting those movements down.

Once you know them, though, they are yours for life.