I’ve always told people to not visit me during winter as there’s nothing to do here besides sit in and watch TV, but I can now tell you that with Snoqaulmie Summit only 40 mins away, if you enjoy snowboarding and skiing, it’s definitely something worth considering.
I was invited to go snowboarding with some colleagues of mine earlier this week. I haven’t had a chance this season to go snowboarding and was very excited. I couldn’t find my previous pair of snowboarding pants (think I left it back at my parents’ place), so I had to go to Rei to purchase a new pair. Snowboarding pants are so expensive! Even the one I got that was on “clearance” was $80. Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve, waited for a deal online, but I really needed this snowboarding trip.
I got everything ready last night:
- jacket
- pants
- gloves
- beanie
- sunglasses
I went to bed early (10pm – if you know me you should start really worrying). I wasn’t feeling well and even declined to go out with some coworkers for dinner last night. My head was hurting (been wanting to bash it all day to stop the pain – banging it slightly against my desk didn’t help much). Anyway I also wanted to get enough sleep for tomorrow’s activity since we were leaving at 8am, which meant I had to get up at 7am. Apparently the sand man decided not to pay me a visit last night until it was ~4am. I realized whenever I try to fall asleep, the sound and thumps of my heart beating prevented me to catch any shuteye. I tried to sleep on a different bed, try sleeping in front of the TV, all failed attempts. Eventually I gave up and who knows when I really fell asleep, but I woke up to my alarm blaring at 7am.
I drove over to Rafael’s house as we were going to carpool. We reached the Snoqualmie Summit about 8:50am (park opens at 9am). Rented my stuff and did a couple runs, then met up with Andrew, Jessica, Jaideep, and Pallavi. Apparently I was the only one snowboarding and everyone else was skiing.
Today was HOT! I mean the sun was blaring and even with just a t-shirt + jacket, I was sweating the lie crazy. After several runs, Andrew, Rafael and I went back to the car to dump off some clothes. I was planning to just wear my t-shirt, but then noticed my lift ticket was attached to my jacket. Arggggh. I did take off the beanie. Afterwards I decided to snowboard with my jacket unzipped to catch the breeze, which turned out to be a great idea.
I tried to follow Dave’s (my carving instructor from last year) instructions, managed to go down half the hill with only 1 foot forward, then fell pretty bad. Knee first, followed by 2 flips. After attempting it several more times, and falling forward (not as bad as my 1st fall), I decided that I definitely need knee pads before trying to continue learning to carve. I have no issues falling on my butt, as there’s cushion there, but falling on your knees and wrists hurts really bad, especially after a few falls. Afterwards, I’ve just been seeing how far I can go down the hill without slowing down and changing direction.
Another thing I noticed is that my legs don’t get as tired anymore. Previously I would have to apply a lot of pressure to stop or slow down, but now it’s like stepping on the brakes in my car (okay I may have exaggerated a bit there). I wonder if I’m just getting better or maybe all that exercise on the elliptical has helped.
Rafael had to leave early and given that I also “hoped” to have plans tonight, I left with him around 2pm. Time sure flies when you’re having fun. For the first time this week, my mind was clear and I was actually enjoying myself.
I’ve applied Bengay to all my sore spots. Hopefully it won’t be too bad tomorrow. 🙂
Speaking of which, while applying Bengay, I remember a newbie mistake I made a long time ago. Never apply Bengay close to your private area. oooooh! It BURNS!