snowboarding

I have never been snowboarding or skiing in my life. Which is sad (criminal, according to some) seeing as how I grew up in Park City, Utah. 

Yup. Park City. Home to three incredibly popular ski areas: Deer Valley, PCMR, and the Canyons.  A large part of Utah's "greatest snow on earth."

(Update: it's no longer The Canyons, it's just Canyons)

I don't really know why I never participated in winter activities. Maybe it was because I've had minor, but irritating, back issues since age 10. Maybe I was scared to try it since all of my friends had been on skis since they were about 3-4 years old (If you can walk, you can ski! Strap 'em up!) 


The youth center I work at has a deal with Wolf Creek in Ogden. They are able to take some of the kids skiing/snowboarding and they need staff to come with and supervise. Today was my lucky day to tag along.

We started out in the ski shop to rent all of our gear. It took an hour and a half to get all of us equipped (school was out in Davis County which I think contributed to the increased number of people). 


Next, we split up. The experienced staff and kids went on their way to start having fun. The other 5 kids and myself headed off to our lesson (read as: torture/social embarrassment session) with our awesome instructor, Rachael. We started with just our dominant foot strapped on the board and the other one free. I hated this part. I really think that this is when I pulled the majority of the muscles I injured (imagine doing the splits in multiple directions, multiple times). I finally felt comfortable moving 3-5 feet without falling and Rachael pushed me out of my comfort zone to the magic carpet and the "bunny hill".


Aaaah!!! I just learned to stay upright(ish). Ok, the magic carpet. Lead with your dominant foot and it will carry you up the hill. Sounds simple enough. It was actually quite complex. I didn't fall on the carpet (but that's the only positive thing I can say because I fell a lot before and after it). Getting off the magic carpet is terrifying. I was worried about falling, and not hitting the other people at the top, especially those 3-4 year olds I mentioned earlier. (Although a teeny piece of me wanted to hit them cause they were beating the snow-pants off of me.)


The bunny hill. Such an innocent name for such a terrifying place. We were supposed to go down the bunny hill twice (still with only 1 foot strapped in). I managed it, but my butt and/or wrists will pay for it tomorrow! I finally felt like I could manage the bunny hill for a third run when dear Rachael said we would move to a very steep (looking) hill on the side of the bunny hill. Let's call it the advanced bunny hill.

 (not me, but I looked like this a lot of the time!)

What?! I just got the hang of the bunny hill. First, how do I get up? More importantly, how do I get down? Safely down. To get up the hill: dig your board into the snow with the toe-side, then take a large step with your un-strapped foot, pick up you other foot (board attached) and dig the toe-side of the board into the snow behind you and. Repeat until you're at the top! This part actually wasn't too complex, but it was one hell of workout! Then turn around, sit down and strap your other foot in. 


Oh boy. Both feet on the board. I felt oddly more in control (because at least I couldn't do the splits anymore) and less in control (because my whole body was connected to this board) at the same time. 


Then stand up (ha-ha) and dig the heel edge of your board into the snow and slowly and smoothly go down the hill using your heels to brake. Your board should stay parallel to the mountain (not perpendicular or pointing forward). We did that 3 times and then Rachael said we were ready for the lift.



The lift? Like on the mountain with other people? How do I get to the lift? (not where is it, but how do I physically maneuver my un-coordinated body over there?) How do I get on the lift? How do I get OFF the lift? What do I do when I get off the lift? Luckily, this is where I was paired with instructor Jordan. He helped me get on the lift. He helped me stay on the lift. Getting off was embarrassing because I biffed it, but on a positive note: I didn't get hit by the chairlift like I thought I would.


Then we started down the incredibly large hill. I was still going down with my heel side of the board in the snow. Jordan rode down backwards in front of me for about half way (holding my hands to keep me upright.) The next thing I knew, he was helping me slowly zig-zag across the hill. I did a superman once (I'm sure you can picture what that fall looks like!) but made it to the bottom!


So we went up again. I totally fell again getting off the chairlift (something to work on, I guess). But I went down the mountain with no help and no falls! Success!!!! I can't believe I did it! I'm so proud and so amazed it did it!


I'm sure I'll be sore for a week, but it was totally worth it. I can't wait to go again and improve! I think I could really get into snowboarding!