Working life Snow tubing: No skill required By Masako Yamada	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
同僚とウィンタースポーツを満喫 3月も過ぎようというのに、ニューヨーク州北部にはいまだに雪が残っています。もともと出無精な雅子さんも、長い冬の間中、家にこもりがちだっだのでちょっとうんざり。そこへタイミングよく、スポーツ好きな上司から、snow tubing なるものに誘われました。運動音痴の雅子さんが、恐る恐る参加してみると…。

チューブを調べる筆者の同僚たち。空気の量やかぶせられたカバーによって、すべり具合が変わってくる

My boss is Canadian and he speaks glowingly of several winter sports: downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, ice-skating and most of all, hockey. Sometimes I feel as if I'm from a different world when I speak to him. He's the type of person who gives career advice such as, "You have to play good defense," while grabbing an imaginary hockey stick and blocking an imaginary goal. I'ｖe never played hockey in my life.

Nor have I ever downhill skied, cross-country skied, or snow-shoed. I was therefore apprehensive when my boss arranged for our entire lab to go Snow tubing. I had never heard of any other lab manager organizing such an event. Usually, team-building activities involve eating together at restaurants or playing indoor games. This event was held at a ski slope. I have so little experience playing in the snow that I had to borrow a ski jacket and ski pants for the occasion. I didn't even have a hat.

丘の上までは、チューブに座って、綱に引かれて上がる

At first, my fellow beginners and I sat in our doughnut holes at the top of the hill and asked for a gentle push. However, we quickly learned how to do it. The employees at the top are capable of giving quite hefty kicks; they can even spin you around so you continue spinning as you slide down the hill.

There is no reason to remain seated in the doughnut hole. Most of the experienced folks prefer to go down the hill headfirst. Eventually, my colleagues and I started racing each other. I must say it was a bit strange to see my co-workers in their 40s, 50s and even 60s yelling, "Ready! Set! GO!" making a quick dash, and then leaping onto their tubes headfirst. My two colleagues who were the fastest are from Canada and Russia. My guess is that they are used to playing in the snow.

Strangely enough, one of the young, athletic members of my lab was quite inept at tubing. Sometimes he barely made it down the hill. However, it turns out that the problem was in the tube that he had selected. Apparently, there is a technique to selecting a tube. A colleague who has been working for the company for 38 years told us that there has to be plenty of air in the tube, and that the fabric cover must be undamaged. Once the faulty tube was replaced, the ride was much smoother.

I took one break during the event to eat some French fries in the lodge, but I did not see any of my other colleagues resting in the lodge. One of my labmates seemed especially enthralled by the tubing process. Like myself, she was also a tentative beginner at first, but she quickly became addicted. When it came time for us to drive back home, we practically had to pry her off the hill.

I had no idea there is a ski resort just a few miles from where I live. While we were there, I noticed that the resort offers skiing lessons. It's too late for me to take skiing lessons this season, but I took a mental note of the location. It's easy to come up with reasons not to try new things, but I now know that I can't use the excuse of "the resort is too far" to prevent me from learning how to ski. Thanks to this event sponsored by my manager, I might start enjoying the winter next year as a proper upstate New Yorker.

Shukan ST: April 2, 2004

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