Snowboarding

A couple of months ago I bought a snowboard from a friend who wanted a bigger one. I don't know how much this one was used, but it looked like new so it was a good deal. For Christmas J gave me a helmet and ski goggles and Noels gave me a lesson at COP. Yesterday before I went to the hill I bought wrist guards.

So I ran into my friend Doug on Thursday night and learned that he used to be a snowboard instructor so he went with me yesterday and instead of paying some teenager snowboard instructor at COP, I bought Doug a ticket and away we went. He was so awesome and I'm so very glad that I went with him.

It all went so much better than I would have guessed. We began with simply moving the board around with only my lead foot in the bindings and then went up the bunny hill and practiced doing the falling leaf on my heel edge (I don't know how to properly call any of this) and then again down the hill but on my toe edge.

Next we went up the chair lift and down the bigger hill where I learned how to turn both from heel side to toe side and vica versa. It was so much fun despite some falls, but really I was surprised that I did much better than I expected.

After a few hours my legs were so tired coming down the hill that they were shaking! I figured that it would be my legs that would be sore today, but nope - it is my neck and my knees. My knees are sore from falling on them (it is a surface soreness) and my neck is sore from when I fell and whacked my head on the ground - it's pretty much like whiplash. Everyone said that your butt and wrists will be sore after snowboarding but they are fine today.

Anyway, I can hardly wait to not be sore so I can go again. Really, it was the most fun I've had in ages. I was so happy that I liked it since I had already bought all the stuff (probably not the best way to take up a new sport - should really try it and THEN buy the gear!) Thanks to Doug for the lesson and laughs!