Getting Back on the Board

This weekend was my first time to hit the slopes since I broke my wrist last winter. I have to say I wasn’t too excited about getting back on my snowboard, but I knew I had to face my fear and jump back in the saddle (or the bindings). So on Sunday Alan and I made the hour drive up to Mount Hood in the snow and ice. The snow on the mountain was great – it snowed a lot last week (even in the city).

We decided to snowboard at Skibowl which seems to have a little bit easier slopes (and a slower chair lift) than Meadows where I snowboarded last winter. So we slid into the parking lot, started layering up and then Alan said “Um Mary, you only have one boot attached to your board.” I couldn’t believe I left one boot at home. I thought about throwing my scarf in and just heading home; I thought about snowboarding barefoot or maybe flamingo style; and then I realized I could just rent boots for the day (duh). So once we were fully geared up (with my new wrist guard tightly wrapped around my still achy wrist), Alan gave me a little pep talk to ease my nerves, reviewed Snowboarding 101 and I slowly scooted over to the chair lift. Now the chair lift is by far my least favorite part of snowboarding. I wish I could just relax and enjoy the gorgeous view while ascending the mountain and passing over snowy trees, but I’m just too anxious and worried about getting to the top and having to somehow dismount the still-moving lift while hopefully keeping some sort of grace.  I made it off the lift pretty well the first two times, but completely ate it on the third time.  A little 9-year-old girl standing at the bottom of the lift slope yelled out, "Oh my goodness! Are you okay?" and continued to ramble (loudly) about how embarrassing it is to faceplant in the snow like that.  Thanks, little girl.

It ended up being a great day on the mountain and I have regained my confidence as a snowboarder - a beginner snowboarder.  Can't wait to hit the slopes again!