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January 18, 2010 (Monday)
Post-session
I'm back. Immediately after returning from the airport, headed directly to the beach. A-framer was tiny and barely doable but doable nonetheless. I was struggling--was awkward and inept. Body felt discombobulated. A friend joined me for a bit before we both decided it was too dismal.
It was nice to get into the water and sunshine after four days of dreary coldness. Actually, the change in environment was good for me, and I really enjoyed it. Wouldn't want to stay there, but it was a great diversion.
And then there was the snowboarding. Wasn't as easy as I had thought. Quite a production too: dressing in multiple layers, driving up the mountain, finding parking, renting the gear, suiting up, getting to the lift, riding the lift, getting off the lift (a challenge in itself), riding the darn slope.
Fresh snow had fallen overnight, and as we rode the lift for our initial run it started to snow. Visibility wasn't so good, lots of mist. The weather changed quickly and constantly, though. Cloudy/hazy then some sun; foggy/misty then clear and bright (but mostly just foggy).
After my first few "runs," I was sweating. Not sure if it was stress from riding and falling, but my son was feeling the same and we considered going back to the lodge to shed a layer; but that would've entailed too much effort and time, so we just kept at it.
I was eating it a lot. Couldn't make it down the slope without tumbling or face-planting several times. It wasn't until my son left me to do some blue runs that I rode the lift with one of the instructors who worked at the mountain and got a free personal lesson. He gave me some pointers that had me riding all the way pretty much without falling. I was too scared to go fast--after all, the slope was crowded--so I would just zig-zag all the way. Speed was slow but at least I stayed upright.
After I got some confidence, we tried a short blue run. Same thing. I went slowly. My son blazed down and would do a small jump near the end. This run was narrow, and on one side was a drop and lots of big trees. Suffice to say I was very cautious (read: wimpy) and that kept me from making it down without consistently falling several times.
We stayed on the mountain for almost eight hours, breaking briefly only for lunch. We went to the lodge and lingered only long enough to order and get our food and inhale it. Then immediately back to the slope.
Later in the day, the conditions worsened. Light snow turned to rain drizzle and it got cold and the slope icey. By then my body was aching. I was hurting everywhere, particularly my tailbone and abs from constantly plopping down on my butt to fasten bindings and then pulling myself up to ride.
But the conditions weren't as bad as the preceding day. We had wanted to do a night session when we got into town the previous afternoon, but as we drove there we turned around when we learned from the resort's recorded phone message that power had gone out. Then the day we were there, we heard there had been 80 mph winds at the summit and the lifts had stalled without power and each chair had to be rescued individually using rope and harness. Crazy.
So it was a fantastic experience. I loved it. The snow all around and the tress, creeks, rivers, and mountains. What a blast. I've committed to henceforth take a snowboarding trip at least once each year.
Hopefully, I'll be able to recall and apply the snowboarding principles the instructor gave me. Specifically, "torsion-ing" the board by using force on the heels/toes. My friend (who used to be a sponsored rider in Breckenridge) said once you learn you don't forget, like riding a bike. Hmm...we'll see about that.
Posted at 10:12 PM