Bruises and aches and pains oh my!

So I"m finally getting back to you all about my snowboarding adventure. Quite an adventure it was. So Dave and I finally made it to Wachusett Mt. on President's Day. Both of us had that Monday off from work and what better way to spend it than sending our bodies hurdling down a mountain?

Dave has a little more experience than I do, well he's been twice before, where as this was an entirely new experience for me.
I have to admit as we got closer to the mountain I got more nervous, I think by the last mile I was ready to fake an illness or injury to get out of it...but hey what doesn 't kill you makes you stronger right?

We rented all our gear, figured out how to put on our boots and bindings and what not and prepared for our first snowboarding lesson. It was an amusing sight...me, Dave, and a bunch of six and seven year olds ready to learn how to snowboard. I felt a little silly but oh well I wasn't going to attempt a pass down any hill without some instruction. It gets better, our "instructor" was all of fifteen years old. I almost have a decade on the kid, but he had 9 years of experience where as I had zilch. So our lesson consisted of learning how to stand up on the board, strapping both our feet into the board, and two turns which once you learn get you down the hill.

We each took turns practicing heel edges and toe edges, basically shifting your weight either backwards or forwards on the board, hopefully while you remain standing which allow you to turn in both directions. I fell after or during every single attempt at a turn, well before that I was falling just while trying to go in a straight line. The six and seven year olds were totally showing me up. I wanted to give up but thanks to my mom in this situation my stubborness and competitiveness reared their heads and wouldn't let me stop till I got the hang of it.

As our lesson ended I was still at a loss in terms of getting myself down the very tiny bunny hill in any way shape or form other than sliding on my butt or tumbling head over heels. But we were left on our own and Dave was determined to get us down the hill. He had no problem because he knew what he was doing...he excelled in our lesson, and that just made me want to get it even more, if nothing other than to make myself feel better.

We moved on to the next hill, from the bottom it looked completely intimidating..but put in perspective it was a tiny hill probably as steep as our driveway in Huntington. So after a couple hours of practicing toe edges and heel edges I actually made it down at least halfway down the hill without falling. I was proud and felt rather accomplished. We went further and further up the hill as far as our courage would allow us. By the end of the day I was happy with my improvements and had the aches and bruises to show for them.

It was a fun day it of course got better as my skills improved. Nothing is really that fun when you are horrible at it. But I can see that if I practiced more I could at least become somewhat proficient in navigating my way down a hill or two. I think I'll try it again for sure once my bruises are gone that is.

So I 'll add some pictures for you guys when I get them from Dave, I would put some up of my bruises but they are concentrated on my butt so I don't think you want to see that.

Hope you are all enjoying the winter as much as I am...what winter sport should I try next? any suggestions?

Talk to you all soon and love you lots!

Katherine