Friday I went skiing for the first time in a couple of years.  It was my first trip to Perfect North since my first "real" trip skiing at Snowshoe Mountain.  So naturally I was a bit rusty on my first couple of runs.  I even fell down on a simple run that I have had little trouble with the last few years.  Outside of that first fall, I felt I skied quite well considering I hadn’t skied much lately.  I only fell one more time after that first stumble – this other fall was near the beginning of another run when I simply lost focus.  I made my turns pretty short and sweet, and outside of the noble goal of "not falling", I actually went down the hills in a controlled manner where no one felt their life was in danger (including myself). 

One thing that was abundantly clear on my return was that Perfect North paled in comparison to a "real" mountain resort like Snowshoe.  The runs were drastically shorter, and the terrain isn’t nearly as varied.  With that being said, I still had a terrific time.  I’m not yet good enough where I’m not challenged by the runs at Perfect North, heck I still haven’t attempted the black diamond runs there, which are most likely laughable compared to mountain resort black diamonds.  And I look at Perfect North this way – it is a pretty fun Midwestern ski area that I can drive to within an hour.  I still feel like I can really work on my skills and have a good time doing so. I’ve done online comparisons with other ski areas within a few hour radius, it seems to beat them hands-down.  I am considering getting a ski pass for next season, perhaps even picking up some equipment to counter the costs of renting.  Will I do it?  Who knows, I’ve been "thinking about it" for years.  Perhaps the winter Olympics will inspire me.  Just no moguls – I’m quite happy just learning to deal with steeper and faster runs.