Boards of Terror

Against my better judgment, I strapped on the snowboard for the first trip down. Terrifying. That is the best term to summarize the status of my current snowboarding skills.

Diane puts on her babushka in preparation for the boards of terror adventure.

Diane doesn't trust me on the lift, so I rode up alone. The guy in front of me lost his ski when he got on. I ended up taking it up. I was terrified about getting off with the ski. I had visions of crashing as I got off the lift in the best style of a Warren Miller film.

Somehow, I made it off. Only to face the terror of having to make it back down the hill. I've now concluded a few things about snowboarding. First, I'm not sure I'll ever be comfortable on a snowboard. I'm not sure I want to put the effort in to get to that point. Which leads to the second conclusion: crashing on a snowboard hurts. A lot. Dylan says it's because I don't know how to fall. I say it's because falling is painful. I rarely crash on skis, but when I do, it's usually painful. I remember one crash on Success back in the early 90's when I still had gigantically long, narrow boards. I was shredding through the bumps and hit a hole. My ski stuck and I went face first into the tip. I was spitting out blood and my teeth were a little loose. But that was on skis and I kind of know what to do when I'm going down on skis.

My biggest fear on a snowboard is the "helmet check." That's my term for the way I've fallen nearly every time I've been out on a snowboard (see March 12, 2011 entry). It involves standing on your toeside and catching the back edge and being thrown backwards in a fashion that hyper-extends your neck and whacks the back of your head. Helmet check. Check, the helmet works. Check, it's good to have a helmet.

The other humbling thing is that my helmet checks always occur on the flats. I've yet to figure out how to go straight on the flats. As far as the helmet check maneuver, I've done it enough times now that it's always in the back of my mind (so to speak) and that it affects the fun factor. I don't think I'm cut out for snowboard.

The obvious summary conclusion is that snowboard is harder than it looks. I've gained appreciation of Kayla and Dylan's mad boarding skills. Like skiing, it requires subtle moves and a certain balance.

Diane tackles Duck Soup on her Board of Terror. She's picking it up pretty fast at this point.

Looking back up the hill.

Dylan on the other hand is terrorizing the mountain on his Board of Terror.

Happy day. It's snowing yet again!

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The Raven is bigger than it looks in this picture. Willamette Pass has the biggest Ravens I've seen anywhere. Today there were several of them hanging around the parking lot.

I'm hanging up the Board of Terror for the season and going back to what I know: skiing.