Snowboarding

For many years I have desired to learn to snowboard but have never had the opportunity. For this year's winterfest I finally got to. Pisgah takes the entire school out either snowboarding/skiing or shopping in gatlinburg/pigeon forge. I, as a sponsor, get to go free!

First of all let me set the stage for you. By tuesday I had been on duty for 8 days, due to some scheduling issues and trips that sharon and I had to go on. I was getting about an average of 4-5 hours of good sleep a night, then a few more interrupted hours. This isn't the norm but we've had a lot going on and a lot of sick girls. And... I was getting sick.

So when Wednesday came I was totally wiped out and wishing I had chosen shopping instead, but went whole-heartedly anyway. Alexia had promised that she would show me what I was doing so I trusted her. I came to figure out this was a bad idea.

Part 1: Walking. To walk you have one foot twisted sideways in the binding, the other free to push you along. Never looked terribly difficult but well on ice I was down three times before I made it to the lift. The guy finally just had to pull me on.

Part 2: The lift. Ok now I'm finally on and the thought hits me. I HAVE TO GET OFF! how in the world!?!?! Emily tries to instruct me and I'm feeling a little bit better about the situation when I realized that Pastor Buz is behind us. In the course of the conversation he discovers this is my first time and asks "Then why are you going 2/3 of the way up the mountain?" WHAT!!!! that's a good question. Why am I? ALEXIA! Buz had his hands folded in prayer for me as I watched the mountain get higher and higher with no end in sight. This= petrified.

Part 3: Disembarking. As expected I didn't even really manage to stand up before I was flat on my face getting off the lift. But then I began to notice another problem. I was sitting on ice and the mountain started sloping almost immediately, which added together meant that I was sliding. Within a matter of seconds I was sliding down the mountain with one foot in the binding totally useless, and my hands grasping at the mountain trying desperately to stop myself. But it was a sheet of ice and there was nothing to grab onto.The last thing I saw was Alexia pointing at me in interest. I don't know who came up with the nonsense about your life flashing before your eyes. Who has time for that when you are thinking of all the horrible ways in which you are about to die!?!

Part 4: The Learning Curve. Finally the mountain leveled off enough for me to stop and Alexia and Emily came to my rescue. It was decided that I was to get up and just go. yeah....right..... instead I went down almost the entire mountain on my butt, thinking about standing up, trying a few times, but basically just loathing my position in life. By the time I got to the bottom, Alexia and Emily had already passed me going back up and I decided to abandon their ship and find the bunny hills.

Part 4: The Turning Point. By lunch I was totally exhausted. I no longer had any knees left. They had been shattered somewhere back in the snow. I came to find out that even the experienced boarders weren't doing so hot either, which made me feel better. Josh asked me why I hadn't gotten him to teach me.. good question! so I took him up on it and WOW, 10 minute mechanics lesson and I am going, oooooooooh!!!!! simple things like the fact that I was putting my weight on the wrong foot made a HUGE difference. But he pointed out that I was using my heel side edge (yes that was comfortable there thank you) and needed to try my toe side. Ok so I willingly tried it, and this is when falling reached it's peak. When you're sliding down a mountain and catch an edge this isn't just like a slow, easy fall. you're down, hard, and for the most part you hit pure ice. I'd just lay there for 5 minutes taking deep breaths, wondering if I was going to make it. This is also a whole lot harder on your body then skiing, and by 2:30 I was shaking I was so tired. I was trying to drink out of a bottle but my hands were shaking so badly that it was rather difficult. I had also almost completely lost my voice, so I decided I was done for the day and played cards in the lodge with the kids.

Part 5: The Aftermath. By the end of the day most of us were totally beat up. Hindman said that he'd lose a fight with a kindergartener at that moment. I concurred. But we also had a broken clavicle on the way to the ER, another with a hurt knee, and later we'd find out two broken wrists. I'm still waiting to hear if there is more. I personally escaped to Callie and Andy's house where they let me sleep for 12 hours. I woke up this morning in extreme pain. Sitting up in bed required much gritting of teeth. Lucky me has the day off but I can't really decide what to do. I could go to B&N and read (my all time favorite) but that requires sitting on a hard chair for hours and I can't even sit on a soft one. I desperately need to clean my house but that requires a lot of movement and bending and that just sounds like torture. Or I could lay on my couch and be totally sedentary, but that just sounds absolutely boring.