Snowboarding
Yesterday Jenni and I drove up to Mt. High Ski Resort for the "ESSSO ski trip". It ended up being only two other people went (the president--Paul--, and Ben), and they didn't even arrive til that night cuz they planned to stay at the lodge last night and ski today. But anyways--
We left around 8:45 am and got there around 10:30. There was NO PLACE TO PARK anywhere so Jenni asked a staff guy where to go and he told us to go up to the North park, which actually worked out great cuz they had sledding there which Jenni wanted to do. So we drove up this big mountain and then I bought my package which included snowboard equipment rental, 8-hour ski lift pass, and a lesson. We both took the shuttle bus down to the West park where I actually got my rental equipment. It was about an hour before my lesson started, so we both went to the tiniest bunny slope so I could get a little practice in. OH MY GOSH. The combination of the different equipment from what I was used to (I'd never used actual boots before), the very narrow hill, and TONS of people and tiny children was enough to make me VERY frustrated, as I was so afraid to hit people and just ended up falling all of the time. So I was glad when it was time to go to my lesson, because I hoped we'd go somewhere less crowded or something. Jenni left then to go sledding.
The lesson was really worth it. It wasn't so much that I was learning new tricks, but he taught us the basics behind it so I knew what I needed to do to improve. He also taught us basics that I'd never worried myself with before, like, how to walk up and down a hill with your lead foot strapped in so you don't have to unstrap all the time. (This was very helpful since it was more work to strap my feet in with a "real" board compared to my Wal-Mart board.) On a very slight incline he had us practice our J-turns, which was (if you ride normal) turning right by leaning on your toe edge and turning left by leaning on your heel edge. The latter was much more difficult for me to master, I think because leaning on my toe edge is how I would stop with my wal-mart board. (Mike taught me how back in Wisconsin.) This was all with only our leading foot strapped in.
After awhile of this, our instructor took us to the ski lift to "Snowflake", the easiest run that required a ski lift. He taught us how to load and unload safely, and I never fell while unloading all day! At the top of the hill, we strapped our other foot in as well. The first thing he taught us was controlling sliding backwards--so we had to lean forward on our toe edge JUST RIGHT so that we slid backwards with our boards perpendicular to the mountain. Leaning too far forward would stop you, too far back and you'd go fast and perhaps fall. This was easy.
Next we learned this trick to going down that reminded me of a leaf falling from a tree...like a pendulum going back and forth but down at the same time. We continued only using our toe edge to control, but went back and forth across the face of the hill while also going down. This was also fairly easy, and I was surprised how easy it was going goofy. After this we did the same exercise but using our heel edge. This was again more difficult for me...it was harder for me to lean far enough back, I think. He finished up by teaching us the S-turn, which is going from your toe edge to your heel edge while going down the mountain.
I think the most important lesson I took away from it was that snowboarders NEVER ride straight--they are always leaning on one of the two edges--unless they are transitioning between the two edges. This is how you control yourself and don't gain impossible speeds. Along those lines, it was also important to learn that I needed to lean MORE on the edges in order to ride properly. The little exercises we did (like falling like a leaf) were also very helpful, because that is a very easy, very slow way to go down a hill, so if I ever needed to take it easy I could.
The rest of the day I just stayed on Snowflake. It got a bit windy now and then, which was GREAT, cuz it really cleared off the hill making it so much easier for me to continue improving. I really am quite proud--I went from not knowing how to carve at all to S-turning all the way down the hill. I still had much better control leaning on my toe edge, so I usually gained speed when I was on my heel edge but it was okay because I had the toe-edge so nailed down that I could slow myself way down when I turned that way.
I only had one really bad fall which was due to a girl falling in front of me, which would have been okay except then this skiier started cutting me off where I was going in order to avoid her. So I lost control and flew head first landing on my back and sliding quite a ways. My head hurt after that so I just sat there for awhile until it went away, but I can never end on a bad run so I went one more time. That time was great, totally awesome--but it had started snowing/hailing mini pieces of ice which wasn't good when I was in the part of the turn that faced me into the wind, so after that I was done. Which was perfect timing cuz that's when I told Jenni I'd return my rentals and meet her at the car.
After that we went to the lodge Paul had rented out for the night and helped make dinner. By helped I mean Jenni and I cut up some veggies and then sat on the couch until dinner time--but we had also brought side dishes! We had delicious speghetti filled with veggies. Then we cleaned the dishes, played Atari for about 10 minutes, and headed out. We felt bad cuz they asked us to stay several times--saying it would be safer to leave in the morning, and asking if we were sure we didn't want to ski the next day...So we had to politely decline several times over--but we did at least offer to pay what we RSVP'ed for, so we felt better about it.
Today I have just been relaxing and catching up on rest. I didn't get much sleep last week (Rachelle was visiting so we stayed up talking a lot), so it's good. I should probably start doing my homework soon though.
Oh I forgot to mention just how gorgeous the mountains were--the lower ones were green and lush due to the recent rain, with the taller snowcapped ones in the background. Even at night when all you saw was a huge black shadow looming in the distance against the moonlit night, their majesty was awe-inspiring.
We left around 8:45 am and got there around 10:30. There was NO PLACE TO PARK anywhere so Jenni asked a staff guy where to go and he told us to go up to the North park, which actually worked out great cuz they had sledding there which Jenni wanted to do. So we drove up this big mountain and then I bought my package which included snowboard equipment rental, 8-hour ski lift pass, and a lesson. We both took the shuttle bus down to the West park where I actually got my rental equipment. It was about an hour before my lesson started, so we both went to the tiniest bunny slope so I could get a little practice in. OH MY GOSH. The combination of the different equipment from what I was used to (I'd never used actual boots before), the very narrow hill, and TONS of people and tiny children was enough to make me VERY frustrated, as I was so afraid to hit people and just ended up falling all of the time. So I was glad when it was time to go to my lesson, because I hoped we'd go somewhere less crowded or something. Jenni left then to go sledding.
The lesson was really worth it. It wasn't so much that I was learning new tricks, but he taught us the basics behind it so I knew what I needed to do to improve. He also taught us basics that I'd never worried myself with before, like, how to walk up and down a hill with your lead foot strapped in so you don't have to unstrap all the time. (This was very helpful since it was more work to strap my feet in with a "real" board compared to my Wal-Mart board.) On a very slight incline he had us practice our J-turns, which was (if you ride normal) turning right by leaning on your toe edge and turning left by leaning on your heel edge. The latter was much more difficult for me to master, I think because leaning on my toe edge is how I would stop with my wal-mart board. (Mike taught me how back in Wisconsin.) This was all with only our leading foot strapped in.
After awhile of this, our instructor took us to the ski lift to "Snowflake", the easiest run that required a ski lift. He taught us how to load and unload safely, and I never fell while unloading all day! At the top of the hill, we strapped our other foot in as well. The first thing he taught us was controlling sliding backwards--so we had to lean forward on our toe edge JUST RIGHT so that we slid backwards with our boards perpendicular to the mountain. Leaning too far forward would stop you, too far back and you'd go fast and perhaps fall. This was easy.
Next we learned this trick to going down that reminded me of a leaf falling from a tree...like a pendulum going back and forth but down at the same time. We continued only using our toe edge to control, but went back and forth across the face of the hill while also going down. This was also fairly easy, and I was surprised how easy it was going goofy. After this we did the same exercise but using our heel edge. This was again more difficult for me...it was harder for me to lean far enough back, I think. He finished up by teaching us the S-turn, which is going from your toe edge to your heel edge while going down the mountain.
I think the most important lesson I took away from it was that snowboarders NEVER ride straight--they are always leaning on one of the two edges--unless they are transitioning between the two edges. This is how you control yourself and don't gain impossible speeds. Along those lines, it was also important to learn that I needed to lean MORE on the edges in order to ride properly. The little exercises we did (like falling like a leaf) were also very helpful, because that is a very easy, very slow way to go down a hill, so if I ever needed to take it easy I could.
The rest of the day I just stayed on Snowflake. It got a bit windy now and then, which was GREAT, cuz it really cleared off the hill making it so much easier for me to continue improving. I really am quite proud--I went from not knowing how to carve at all to S-turning all the way down the hill. I still had much better control leaning on my toe edge, so I usually gained speed when I was on my heel edge but it was okay because I had the toe-edge so nailed down that I could slow myself way down when I turned that way.
I only had one really bad fall which was due to a girl falling in front of me, which would have been okay except then this skiier started cutting me off where I was going in order to avoid her. So I lost control and flew head first landing on my back and sliding quite a ways. My head hurt after that so I just sat there for awhile until it went away, but I can never end on a bad run so I went one more time. That time was great, totally awesome--but it had started snowing/hailing mini pieces of ice which wasn't good when I was in the part of the turn that faced me into the wind, so after that I was done. Which was perfect timing cuz that's when I told Jenni I'd return my rentals and meet her at the car.
After that we went to the lodge Paul had rented out for the night and helped make dinner. By helped I mean Jenni and I cut up some veggies and then sat on the couch until dinner time--but we had also brought side dishes! We had delicious speghetti filled with veggies. Then we cleaned the dishes, played Atari for about 10 minutes, and headed out. We felt bad cuz they asked us to stay several times--saying it would be safer to leave in the morning, and asking if we were sure we didn't want to ski the next day...So we had to politely decline several times over--but we did at least offer to pay what we RSVP'ed for, so we felt better about it.
Today I have just been relaxing and catching up on rest. I didn't get much sleep last week (Rachelle was visiting so we stayed up talking a lot), so it's good. I should probably start doing my homework soon though.
Oh I forgot to mention just how gorgeous the mountains were--the lower ones were green and lush due to the recent rain, with the taller snowcapped ones in the background. Even at night when all you saw was a huge black shadow looming in the distance against the moonlit night, their majesty was awe-inspiring.