By FAR One of the Most Interesting Days I've Had in a LONG Time...
So, Dan and Nick finally talked me into getting back out on the mountain today. We started over on the opposite side from where we'd been before, and I have to say that I like the green circle--"Weasal Gulch"--better than the one I'd been on before--"Ridge." I had three AWESOME runs on Weasal Gulch. I'm doing so much better...and Dan got to rub it in my face. I rode the chair lift with him the first time and just kept complaining that I didn't want to be there and he kept telling me, "Wait till you go. You'll have so much fun" And once again...Dan was right and I was wrong. Like usual. So around 5 or so the guys wanted to head over to the terrain park, which is on the other side of the mountain...and connects with Ridge. My first ride on Ridge was pretty decent and on my second run, as I was about halfway down, Nick and Dan flew past me. By the time I got to the end of the run and back to the chair lift...I'd caught up to them. They were only four or five chairs ahead of me. They got strapped in and headed down the mountain before I got to the summit and when I strapped in I checked my clock, it was 5:32. I decided that I was gonna try to catch up with Dan and Nick again...and I was doing really well. I'm starting to get the hang of turning on my edges...but not quite...and therein lies the problem. I think. The last thing I remember...is turning my nose down the mountain near the end of Ridge. After that. Nothing. But...I do remember...waking up...and being face down in the snow...I looked at my hands...and then back up the mountain...and I didn't know where I was. I had NO IDEA where I was or how I got there. I couldn't remember all the snowboarding I'd done before. My hat was behind me...and I yanked my feet out of my bindings and stood up, thinking, "I need to find Dan and Nick." And after that. Nothing. Until I woke up on a backboard in Ski Patrol with all sorts of people around me. Dan and Nick were off to my left and the people put a neck brace on me...I could wiggle my toes and feel how cold their were so I knew I wasn't paralyzed. I was so scared. I've never been that scared in my ENTIRE life. I couldn't remember what happened to me or how I got there. I asked once and they told me that Dan and Nick brought me. But I don't remember it. I was so scared. I was hysterical. Crying and the works. At one point I started randomly praying to God to let me be okay...and one of the guys working on me asked if I was a Christian and I told him yes and he asked if I'd like him to pray with me. And he did. I was just so touched...I felt the power of God there...it was so nice to know there are good Christians out there still. So anyway, I got to ride in an ambulance for the first time in my life. Dan rode with me. I wanted to hold his hand cause I was so scared, but I couldn't cause I was all strapped down and whatnot. But he rubbed my arm and it made me feel a little better to have him there. He's such a good friend to me. So when we got to the ER and they put me on a bed and then Dan held my hand. I was so glad he was there for me. They had to cut all my shirts off cause they couldn't get them over the brace. (Dan wasn't there for that part.) Then I got to lay on my back with an extreme headache and wait. Dan checked the time and it was 6:30. When the nurse came back they took me and I got x-rays of my neck...to make sure I hadn't broken anything so they could take the brace off. After that they took me and I got a CAT scan of my head to make sure there was no bleeding or anything. Both the x-ray and the CAT scan came back clear. So I was good to go. Dan called Nick and gave me his coat to wear--since they'd cut my shirts. Nick picked us up...and now I'm back here. Typing this. I have a concussion...and you know it's super bad when you don't remember how you got it. I still don't remember. I asked Dan if he'd found me...and he said that I was waiting for him and Nick at the bottom of the run. But he didn't say anything other than that...I think I'll talk to them both about it later tonight and try to piece together what happened to me. Needless to say I asked my mom to mail me my helmet. I don't know if I will be going back out or not until I get it. I'm not allowed to do strenuous activiity for the week and I'm considering e-mailing all my professors to tell them what happened. I have a quiz in Anatomy Lab on Monday that I really can't bring myself to stuyd for...and I have drawings due Tuesday and Thursday...as well as a 3 page paper for English. *sigh* I don't feel sick to my stomach yet...but I will be EXTREMELY surprised if I'm not praying to the porcelin goddess at least once tonight. This is by FAR the SCARIEST thing that has ever happened to me. Not being able to remember what happened to you is a terrible thing. I have NO IDEA what happened or how I got to ski patrol. It's scary...I'm still shaken. You'd think I would be too scared to go snowboarding again, right? Au contraire....I want nothing more than to get back on the hill right now. I was doing so well...I'm super excited about being able to go back out...hopefully I'll be okay by next weekend...if not....the weekend after. Out of all of this though...Dan really proved his friendship to me...the way he has time and time again. I love it that I feel like he cares about me. It just makes me so happy to have a friend like that...which is why a few entries ago in that survey, I said he was the best new person I'd met this year. And he is. Screw having a crush on Nick Wilkinson. I've got Dan Hall for a friend.