The courses are much in demand, handling as many as 200 participants at a time, in groups of 15 or 25. For those not interested in spending an entire week pushing with sticks and inevitably falling, the slopes can be used by hiring equipment and a trainer, if necessary, on a daily basis. The course indeed appears expensive, but only till one gets into a pair of skiing boots and locks in into a pair of skis, as this writer found out. The proverbial slippery ground was perhaps coined by someone who stepped on snow for the first time, and not surprisingly took a tumble. Snow boots are a must for walking around Auli, as in any other ski resort, though the brave seemed to be comfortable in their upmarket sports shoes.
Ski boots are another thing.
Weighing anywhere around a kilo or two each, they fit the ankle and feet so firm that a minor slip can end up in a major twisted ankle if not a fracture. The catch lies in locking-in into the skis, feet parallel and dragging around on flat snow. They call it walking on snow. Then comes bending the knees and body forward, skis parallel, and using the sticks to push the body ahead while keeping eyes straight. Well, not many got it right the first time around on the beginners' slope.