I sat down and slowly laced up my boots. It had been a while since I had worn them, and I forgot how hard they were to get tight. I checked my bindings to make sure they still worked, and strapped into my snowboard. It was cold, but the snow was perfect. Packed groomed powder covered the slopes. That wouldn’t last, but it was still early. Soon the snow would be raped from the hills, exposing the ice beneath, but for the moment, it was perfect.
My cousins Justin, and Pete, had invited me to spend a day snowboarding and hanging out. After having skied nearly 100 times or more per year for seven years when I was instructing, and not skiing at all for the past two seasons, it was awesome to get back out.
I started off slow. Taking my time, slowly carving down some easy trails. Getting the feel of my board once again. It’s like riding a bike, you may not forget how, but you dont have quite as much confidence initially. With each run, i pushed myself harder. Making faster, tighter turns, bringing myself to the position that I knew I should be in, then transitioning my board to follow my body. The results were as I expected. The riding improved, my body will hate me.
The next day I was in quite a bit of pain. I decided to push myself harder than I probably should have, and my muscles are still seriously tight. One of the best things about a day out on the mountain, is the fresh cold air, and the blue sky. Just being able to spend time carving down the slopes, finding fresh groomed areas even towards the end of the day, and laughing with friends, is a blessing all in its self.
Here are Justing and Pete at 7 Springs. The crazy thing is that none of us have been out for more than 2 years.
Here they are sitting at the top of North Face.
More will come soon about my adventures, and hopefully that will include more time on the slopes. It is hard to figure out why I ever stayed away for so long.
