Despite having just written up a bunch of goals for the season, I had absolutely no goals set for the day besides get out onto the snow and getting back into the flow. I was carpooling, and I met up with two skiers under I-5 in downtown Seattle. It was pretty sketch, but it seemed like everyone was still passed out since it was an early Sunday morning (not the skiers…the homeless people that live under the freeway). If you are going to be leaving your car at a Seattle park and ride, I’d suggest meeting somewhere with less of a chance that you’ll get back to find a broken window and your car picked clean.
It was my first time in the Burton Emerald boots and I was super excited to try them out— I was hoping that they would be better than my beat-up snowboard boots I had been riding for years. The heel lift in the old boots was starting to get to me.
Forest Queen
In the morning, we kicked around the mountain. Not everything was open and there was some visible rocks, so we had to stay in the groomers. It was OK, but it wasn’t everything I was hoping for. I’ve ridden groomed trails for years and am so ready to move on. There are only so many ways you can ride down packed snow. Two hours in and I was wishing I had gone to Baker.
Then there were the moguls. Ugh. I don’t know about you, but I am not a fan. At all. Some people can ride them, like to ride them…I am not one of those people. (Actually, I’ve never met a snowboarder in person who liked moguls. Have you? I’ve only heard about them, but it seems like I’d sooner come across a unicorn.) I was talking about my mogul aversion on the lift ride up, and I was told that when I get better I’ll be able to go down them. Yeah, not so much.
Tinkerbell: The Bunny Hill
I was tired of riding the same runs over and over, so I sucked up my pride and hit up the bunny hill to work on riding switch. I just said hi to the lifties when I caught the chair, but what I really wanted to say was, “Really, I know how to ride–I can charge–I’m just practicing my switch.” But the chair took me up the hill before I had the chance.
It had been years since I had ridden switch and it was a little awkward. I gave a little nod to a couple at the top who looked cold and sore and irritated with each other and took off down the slight hill from the top of the lift. Turning heelside? Easy. Turning toeside? Mental freak out. Figuring out how to lift my edge so it didn’t catch and push back with my leg to initiate the turn was nearly impossible. It was like trying to write upside-down. I instantly felt bad for the couple at the top of the hill. This was also when I noticed some heel-lift in my boots. Nooo!
I did a couple laps, getting a teeny bit more comfortable. At least the snow was slushy and soft when I fell. Then I started to work on my 180s. They went OK, although I did manage to fall a couple times and one time I landed on my bum and I swear I could feel my brain shake in my head. Weird. I was starting to get them down, but I still want to work on getting more pop out of my ollies and doing a solid 180 degree turn, not just almost 180 and then ride out. After I had done ten laps practicing my 180′s it was raining and getting dark. I was wet, but pretty happy that I had a couple hours in on the bunny hill.
