I had no more excuses. I had to go up.
And so on Saturday, daunted by my own determination, I dug out my house ornament of a snowboard and my cozy winter wear and headed up. A year ago, I was practically being dragged by my encouraging teammate Mary. Now with her across the country, I had only her pleading voice in my head, employing me to carry on. I was going up on my own for the first time.
Okay. She isn't all I had. The truth is, as nervous as I get between every run, the endorphins and adrenaline give me an undeniable mood boost. I had a blast. I did have to be down the mountain by noon for a Packwood writing group event I was trying to conceive but that gave me the perfect time frame to be introduced back into the swing of it. I did of course, have to get in one good tumble, which left floating like a leaf down the last of the slopes, anxious not to take a fall that would jostle my now pounding head.
Yet even ending on that note, I managed to rally for a second day on Sunday with Ariella. I was feeling the aches that morning and warned her that I may not be up for a full day, anticipating a Mary-like endurance for boarding. Fortunately, Ariella and I were on exactly the same page; she hadn't been up in 4-5 years and wasn't sure how much she'd be up for either.
Being her first time to the Pass, we stopped to take in the Mt Rainier view on the way. Smiles grew as we got closer and immediately jumped to some mild jitters as we caught the first glimpse of specks speeding down the mountain. We geared up took Great White directly up, bound for the expansion.
The day was, for the most part, amazing. Weather clear and sunny, Rainier in full view and our confidence growing incrementally with every run. I had a couple of toe side moments and an accidentally jump over a lump that I was particularly pleased with and Ariella was a speed demon on the icy terrain of Snow Devil that had me plopping and slopping and then just leafing it. It wasn't until we were coming down past Chair 5 that we had the day's big fall. Ariella landed...in some way that she can't quite figure...but her arm didn't like it. By the time we reached chair 4, she'd decided it was best we get a medic to take her down. At the top of the chair, we went to the medic lodge where toboggans were waiting and parted ways as I continued down to meet her in the lodge. The final verdict was a stretched muscle and they gave her a pseudo sling. I empathized as she started to note what mundane tasks were now suddenly a pain, recalling my own ridiculous injury from last year. Hopefully hers will be healing over the next few days though.
Still, neither of us are scared off. I may never be one for extreme sports but I can thoroughly enjoy being a fair-weather boarder. Even just being out there in those trees and among the mountain beauty is enough. Eight inches or no, we're getting back up there before this short season ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment