Remember that one rapper, Snow?

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been playing basketball. But I never really had another sport that I enjoy nearly as much. Until now.

Yesterday, I woke up early and drove out to the Cascade Mountains for some snowboarding. The previous Friday night was spent dusting off my gear and packing up. Snow pants, goggles, special wool socks that I spent too much money on, ski jacket, back pack, all prepped and ready to go the following morning.  I ended up falling asleep before midnight on Friday (as I have been doing for years now), exhausted from another long week.

On my way to pain

I woke up on Saturday morning earlier than I wanted or expected to wake up. Sort of mad at myself for now being able to sleep for another 2 hours, I decided to stretch and go outside for a run while the air was still rather cool. I ran right into a Starbucks, which is practically impossible to avoid in Seattle.

After a coffee, 2 bowls of cereal, and a surprisingly delicious eggnog latte, I grabbed my gear and set out east for the Cascades. I knew the drive would take me roughly 2 hours, so I ensured to load my ipod up on enough podcasts to keep me entertained on the way there as well as back.

I’ll just throw in there that the drive alone was worth it

The road eventually went from 4 lanes to 2, making it inevitable that you’ll get stuck behind someone that decides that its a good idea to do 30 in a 55 around narrow winding mountain roads. But that was okay. I was too busy taking in the scenery with an NPR podcast on in the background so it was easy to forget that someone in front of me was driving defensively enough to be dangerous. The greenery and mountains were all covered with snow. Apparently these roads can be treacherous or nearly impossible to pass the first quarter of the year, so I was lucky to come at a good time.

I finally reached my destination. This was from the parking lot of the ski resort. Its from my phone’s camera, so pictures really won’t do it justice.

I grabbed my stuff and went to go find a locker and rent some boots and a board. After getting the rental stuff and the ski lift, I stopped for a second, realizing that snowboarding on a mountain in Washington costs less than snowboarding on a really big hill in Wisconsin.

Anyway, after throwing whatever I didn’t need in my locker and gearing up, I walked out back to this.

Again, my crappy camera doesn’t do this place justice. It was a lot to take in and I definitely stopped to enjoy the view.

So the runs are divided by colors. Green is easy, blue is intermediate, and black and higher means you better know what you’re doing and have health insurance. I jumped on the ski left on the closest green run and began my voyage up. I wasn’t ready for how long of a ride this was. A green run in WA is the hardest run in WI.

I got to the top. Now, one of the most difficult things I’ve found about this sport is getting off the ski lift. Only one foot is typically strapped into the board, meaning you have to plant your other foot on the middle of the board and cross your fingers for a smooth ride down off the lift. The fact that I was able to get about half way down off the lift ramp before I crashed was an accomplishment in itself. My thought was to immediately get to the side as there were people that actually knew what they were doing behind me.

Finally, I sat at the edge on the top of the slope, both feet strapped in, ready to go. I stood up and pushed off downward, my board facing side to side at first so that I could find my footing and control my speed. Somewhere after about a 1/4th of the run was over, I decided to let loose and go.

Away I went, going side to side, doing heel turns with ease and managing a few toe turns. There were a few times I was certain I would crash, but I regained control quickly. I realized that I hadn’t done this in a year but had completely gotten the hang of it.

After a few more runs on the green, I met up with some other people by one of the ski shops. I had never had a formal lesson before and thought it couldn’t hurt. The package I bought included it anyway. I was glad I did, as I learned easier methods of stopping and turning. And the most useful thing I learned was how to properly fall forward or backward as to avoid breaking my wrists.

The lesson was over and I was ready to hit the blue runs. I did just fine on those as well, except at the beginning of the run. The drop off is really steep and I wasn’t used to it. But the rest of the runs I did on the blue was great. I was able to maintain a good speed, sometimes even keeping up with the 8 year old kids that were zooming in between the trees and doing backflips off the ramps. No, I’m not exaggerating; some of the little kids were doing backflips and busting out 360′s. I should tell them to teach me (how to dougie).

All in all, the only downside was on my very last run. I knew it was going to be my last run, so I wanted to make it count. And I did. At the very end of my last run, I crashed hard. It wasn’t so much the impact of the crash that hurt, it was the way my torso twisted and my upper body contorted in the middle of the crash that hurt. I sat there for a second as I had the wind knocked out of me, knowing full well that the last crash counted and would be painful today.

It still hurts right now and probably will for a few more days. It hurts to yawn. It hurts to get off the couch.

But it was well worth it.

Snowboarding has not been an easy sport to learn. Like anything else, it has taken time, practice, and a fair amount of pain from falling repeatedly to really get the hang of it.

Can’t wait till I go again.

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