Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Mt Washington Snowboarding Trip
I've been meaning to write about this trip and now it's been over a month and it sort of feels like old news to me. But here goes:
We dropped of our kidlets at Ann's and headed up to courtenay. On the way up, Dave complained about Kyle's driving. At one point there was a huge bird in the middle of the highway and as we got closer it spread it's wings and flew at our car. It was an eagle. Kyle swerved a little and I may have let out a little scream of fright a long with Kassie. After the fact Dave got on Kyle's case and said that you aren't supposed to swerve around wildlife, just hit them dead on. There was some debate around this, and Dave looked it up on his iphone and it says you're not supposed to swerve around anything smaller than a cow. What?! And just hit the eagle? Possibly damage your car? No thanks. There were about two seconds of driving on the bumpy part on the side of the highway to which Dave responded "COME ON!" rather annoyed. Seriously, two seconds. I was amused. We stopped at the Superstore in courtenay to get food. We had arranged to stay in a friend's condo, which was really nice, so we decided to make our own food. Of course we bought way too much food for one day and breakfast the next morning. That took a while. Then we headed up the mountain. We located our condo and brought all our stuff up. Kassie lent me one of her boards and I had to rent boots. Kyle had to rent everything. So, Dave and Kyle left to go get rentals straightened out and Kassie and I made lunch. Yes, it was already lunch time. I got new snow pants for the trip. They were on sale at winners and I quite like them. They're like real pants. We got all geared up. Dave scared Kyle and I into thinking we would be too cold, so we bundled up big time. Only to sweat and sweat.
The condo was at the bottom of the green hill, so we went out and up the chair lift. I hadnt been snowboarding in 10 years. Kyle never had been. His first time trying was getting off the chair lift. Chair lifts are really intimidating to me. I know most of its in my head, but getting off on a snowboard is tricky and if you fall you have to get out of the way right away to clear room for the people behind you to get off. The actual ride up is pleasant though. I pretty much picked up where I had left off ten years ago, give or take. But, I wasn't good then, so... There was A LOT of falling, and I really really struggled with getting back up again, because my board would start sliding before I had my balance and Id fall all over again. Sometime's I would be stuck in one spot for a long time, putting my whole energy into trying to get up, while everyone was waiting for me. There were some brutal wipe outs. One in particular where I had some good speed going and my board caught some snow in the front and threw me forward and I landed with a heave on my front, knocked all the wind out and my face bounced hard off the snow, causing my neck to be severely sore for a few days. My toque and goggles flew off and I lied there and let some hot tears slide down my face. Kyle came and helped me. We named it my biff-it spot. After that, every time I fell, even if it wasnt that bad, the impact would send throbbing pain to my head.
We started out at the top of the mountain where it was really steep. Kassie said that was best way to learn-start at the top and work your way down. I disagree with that now though because it was too steep to really practice on. Our main focus was to get down. Kyle did really well for his first time, as I knew he would. He's naturally good at everything he tries. We split up from Kassie and Dave for a while and did our own runs. We found a hill we really liked and only got to go down it once before they closed it. They close the mountain at 3:30 or something and then turn lights on and you can go in the evening, but only on the runs that are lit. We went in. My whole body was exhausted and aching. It requires so much effort from all your muscles, especially if your'e falling a lot, but even if you,re not, it feels like you aren't working that hard until you stop and you realize you are out of breath. I got the chills. I had a bath. Kassie and dave made dinner for us. Dave did it begrudgingly insisting that he definitely was'nt going to help clean up. Then the minute Kyle was done eating he was putting all his gear back on and ready to go. I was so tired, I honestly didnt feel like going again. But I had to make the trip worth it, right? Its so expensive to go!!
I won't go into all the details because it'll bore you. Kyle and I made a lot of progress. Dave taught us some basics and then we practiced over and over, mostly on the green hill, which was fun. It felt good to finally feel like we were getting the hang of it. I just wish we could go on a regular basis to keep it up. It's sort of a rich people sport I think. You have to pay for all the gear, and a lift pass, and have the time to do it too and it's not cheap.
I left a little earlier than Kyle and went back to start getting ready for the concert with Kassie. I was soooo tired. I felt like I could happily lounge on the couch and watch olympics for the rest of the evening. I did Kassie's hair for her, and she did my make up. She works for MAC (well she was at that time, but not anymore) Then we headed to the pub where Wide Mouth Mason was playing.
It was full. We got a seat way in the back. We still had a while to wait, so were ordered some appys and watched the olympis and visited. That particular day was the day Charles Hamlin won his gold medal and they kept showing his race over and over. Once the band started, we of course, got up and went to the front. Wide Mouth Mason is just soooo good live! They are the sort of band you like way more after hearing them live. Dave and Kassie did their own thing, and Kyle and I were up front and center. It was fun.
By the end of all this, we were so tired and soooo sore. (well Kyle and I were.) I was fully looking forward to a sleep in. It was my first night away from Sloan! Unfortunately my sleep wasn't that great because every time I had to move, there was soreness and pain.
We got up and had a lazy relaxing morning before we came home. It was a really fun trip, and I'm so glad we got to do it with Kassie and Dave. Speaking of them, the just moved back to Edmonton. They left yesterday and I'm feeling sad about it. They were fun friends for us and we'll miss them.
And that was our fun snowboarding/ wide mouth mason experience.
0 comments
Sarahstottle posted @ 7:40 AM