First Snowboarding of the Season

Yesterday we ventured up to Pennsylvania for our first snowboarding trip of the season. Ainsmar joined us--but he decided to ski. My first run was great. I had a little trouble getting started, but I made my first run without falling down. That didn't hold. It seemed that I was able to make it down the hill, but at the end of each run I would slow down too much and fall over. At least three times I fell over right onto my knees. The snow was packed at the end of the run--basically ice.

I used all my new gear: The helmet Ross got me for Hanukkah, new goggles, my new snow pants (which make my butt look good), my boots, board, and bindings. We need to make some adjustments to my bindings. I wore a pair of snowboarding socks that I bought for Ross, and he wore the pair of socks I made him. Unfortunately the socks I knitted had a hole in them at the end of the day. Oh well, I'll fix them.

We thought about going back today. But I couldn't imagine landing on those bruises again, and Ross was just too worn out from yesterday. I'm glad we went. I had fun and manged 8 runs down the hill. I tried to go down the hill facing upward, but it was tough. The muscles in my legs were on fire after just 30 seconds. It seems that I'm a lot more comfortable leaning back on my heels than forward on my toes. I'm not sure what to do about that. I'm sure practice would help, but it hurts. 

I may be bruised, but I had fun, and that's that most important part. Also, no one had any sprains, strains or breaks. Well, Ainsmar's jacket suffered tear, but I've already fixed that up.

Oh, my poor bruised knees.