Wachusett
Today, Antonio and I went snowboarding at Wachusett. The important thing to know here is that neither of us has tried it before.
The drive to Wachusett went pretty fast, so we got there in time for the 10:30 a.m. beginner group lessons. That was lucky, because if we had missed that we would have been boned. Snowboarding was tough. Antonio kept claiming it has a tougher learning curve than skiing, and that it's expected that you have to go at least 3 times to be able to do anything other than fall every 100 feet. I am willing to believe it will take at least 3 times, but that seems like a lower bound.
After the lesson, our instructor Karly said we were not in that bottom 10% who should go back to the lodge and give up. We tackled the lowest bunny slopes for a while before and after lunch. (Wachusett has surprisingly good and reasonably priced food. $6.50 for a large soda and a bowl of actually tasty vegetarian chili? I can live with that.) These tiny slopes have surface lifts, magic carpet style, which is basically an inclined moving walkway. I only chuffed it once at the end of one of the walkways, by knocking the gate with my foot and falling over. If you chuff it, they stop the walkway, making everyone behind you unhappy.
By around 2:30, I managed to make it down the tiniest slope all the way without falling, so I called it quits before I hurt myself more. I only had one fall that made me shriek, I tend to scream with both fear and pain when I am actually getting hurt, but there wasn't any lasting harm. I am a little tender all over, bruised in a few places, sore on my rear, and a little achy in the thighs, calves, and shoulders. That last one is from getting up from sitting and falls. I think this is the one part of snowboarding that is tougher for a girl. The arm to leg length ratio makes it more challenging to get up from lying down with the techniques they showed us.
Overall, I would rate the experience mildly fun and only a little psychologically distressing. I would go again, but not soon! I would have to call it a successful day.
The drive to Wachusett went pretty fast, so we got there in time for the 10:30 a.m. beginner group lessons. That was lucky, because if we had missed that we would have been boned. Snowboarding was tough. Antonio kept claiming it has a tougher learning curve than skiing, and that it's expected that you have to go at least 3 times to be able to do anything other than fall every 100 feet. I am willing to believe it will take at least 3 times, but that seems like a lower bound.
After the lesson, our instructor Karly said we were not in that bottom 10% who should go back to the lodge and give up. We tackled the lowest bunny slopes for a while before and after lunch. (Wachusett has surprisingly good and reasonably priced food. $6.50 for a large soda and a bowl of actually tasty vegetarian chili? I can live with that.) These tiny slopes have surface lifts, magic carpet style, which is basically an inclined moving walkway. I only chuffed it once at the end of one of the walkways, by knocking the gate with my foot and falling over. If you chuff it, they stop the walkway, making everyone behind you unhappy.
By around 2:30, I managed to make it down the tiniest slope all the way without falling, so I called it quits before I hurt myself more. I only had one fall that made me shriek, I tend to scream with both fear and pain when I am actually getting hurt, but there wasn't any lasting harm. I am a little tender all over, bruised in a few places, sore on my rear, and a little achy in the thighs, calves, and shoulders. That last one is from getting up from sitting and falls. I think this is the one part of snowboarding that is tougher for a girl. The arm to leg length ratio makes it more challenging to get up from lying down with the techniques they showed us.
Overall, I would rate the experience mildly fun and only a little psychologically distressing. I would go again, but not soon! I would have to call it a successful day.