My first trip snowboarding was so incredibly fun. I can't wait to go again, and I'm surprised that my friends who HAVE gone snowboarding before aren't raving about it as much as I am! What the deal, man? Am I just crazy?? Am I crazy to add another snowboarding trip to my list of 2008 New Year's Resolutions??? Well, I'm hooked - the end.
Anyway, my old high school & college buddies and I decided to take a trip to Lake Tahoe. The scenery was breathtaking. Snow-capped mountains surrounding a serene lake... Yeah, we don't see much of that in Texas. These pictures don't do much justice, but here's an idea of what we saw from the ski lifts:
The first day was pretty much a waste for me. I missed the morning class I had been planning to take (since I had never snowboarded in my life), so I had to wait for the afternoon session. In the mean time, Phong had the excellent idea of throwing me down a green slope before I had a chance to learn anything at all (thanks, buddy). I had literally just strapped on my snowboard, wobbled straight over to the ski lift, got on it, and then as I skated off the lift, my snowboard slid up right under me, and I fell backwards, head-first. Here's the death-defying ski lift:
It was really embarrassing when the ski lift attendee had to stop what he was doing to help me up. Anyway, I was knocked down so hard that my goggles fell off, which became a problem because the next thing I knew, I had somehow managed to get myself stuck in front of a big snow machine. It blew snow
everywhere - in my goggles, in my hair, inside my coat.... And to make matters worse, I didn't even know how to perform basic actions like keeping my board stationary or getting up from a fall. I was stuck in front of this horrible snow machine which kept blowing snow all over me. I couldn't see anything but snow, and I kept falling down in the very same location. If Purgatory had a winter season, this would be it. I didn't want to hold my friends back, and Phong was trying his very best to help me, but sometimes it's just best to perish in style. So, I asked him to just leave me, and let me tumble down with the last bit of dignity I had left. I made it down that GREEN (the easiest!) slope in... oh... a couple of hours.
When I finally got down it, I had to rest. I found Julia at the bottom of the slope, and we just kept practicing there for the next hour or so. We would run as high as we could up the slope, strap on our boards, then away we'd go. Good times =) .... Then, I scarfed down a granola bar, and headed over to my class. Unfortunately, by that time, I was so exhausted that I could hardly do any of the exercises our teacher was teaching us to do. Very discouraging, that first day. But here's a fun memory - Julia and I discovered our snowboards made great sleds:
My second day was like my real first day. Ivy came from San Francisco the second day, and since she had never snowboarded before, Julia and I spent the first hour or so to help her get acquainted with her board on the bunny slope. Here's a view of the bunny slope:
You'll have to turn your head a bit to see that the bunny slope was pretty flat, but it was definitely a good starting point. Ivy picked everything up very quickly. Unlike Julia and me, she still had a high level of confidence and energy to jump on the ski lift immediately and face that deadly green slope that I tried yesterday. Recalling my experience on the first day, my mind kept screaming, "Noooooooooo!!!" but my actions said, "Ok, fine." The second time was a little better. I was still struggling, and I was scared, but I was a little better. This time, instead of getting stuck in one place all the time, I was now moving on to
real problems, like how to maneuver turns, how to avoid traffic (it was a very narrow slope, so it was easy to get into someone's way), and how to get up and stay stationary on an incline without falling. Even though I was doing better than the first day, I was still haunted by my first day's experience because my sore muscles kept reminding me - my butt hurt, my arms hurt, and even the muscles in my neck hurt, which I think was caused by the way I kept pulling myself up every time I fell.
On the third and final day, I finally got it! I could plow down steep slopes (plowing is snowboarding perpendicular to the slope to better control your speed). I could "leaf" from side to side down the slope. Plus, I was finally able to get off the ski lift without falling! It was HUGE improvement. I still need to work on my "S's," or rather the
right way to snowboard, where you go one direction while facing
down the mountain, and then you curve your course to go the opposite direction, this time facing
up the mountain, hence traveling in an "S" shape. I still fell every now and then, but now I could actually stay up on my snowboard and really enjoy it. Yay! Here are Ivy and me jumping for joy:
Here are Julia and me making snow angels:
One major difference between the first two days and the last day is that we went on a
different green slope on the last day. I didn't get a chance to go back on the first green slope to truly prove that it didn't get the best of me. I'm saving that for next time. Until we meet again, First Scary Green Slope, until we meet again.....
Here's the group I went with. From left to right: Phuong, Jevon, Julia, Vince, David, Phong, Me, Ivy. (Diana came with us, but isn't in the picture)
Alright, so here's my revised 2008 New Year's Resolutions:
- Run a 10K Race
- Run a 5K Race every 3 months
- Read all the Harry Potter Books
- Go snowboarding again <-- New
