Snowboarding

I've lived in Utah and Colorado all my life, or at least all my life that I actually remember, and I've never gone skiing or snowboarding. Until today. It's strange, but every part of me hurts. Also, I totally sucked. For the whole first third of the mountain I was basically sliding on my butt more than I was standing on the board. I thought I wasn't going to get the hang of it. Thankfully, I went with someone who has had a little experience teaching others to snowboard, and a little more experience snowboarding himself. He had a few pointers, and I was looking like I was snowboarding on purpose before I got too far down the mountain.

Still, it's amazing how much snowboarding hurts. It was mostly in the feet. There was a lot of leaning towards my toes, which they didn't mind at first, but it's kind of like the feeling when your climbing shoes are way too tight, and are cutting off the circulation, or the bizarrely strong muscle fatigue you feel in your feet when ice skating, or rollerblading. I think it's because I unconsciously clench my toes to try to hold on a bit better. It can't just be the shoes, because I once felt the same thing while riding a segway. It's a strange vehicle, one that I recommend trying out if you get a chance, and you stand on it wearing your regular shoes. My feet were killing me by the time I got off, not much more than ten minutes after I got on. Also, the rented boots were plenty comfortable when I was not attached to the snowboard.

Well, that's all that hurt then, but everything hurts now. Maybe it was all the falling and pushing myself up. Maybe it was some unconscious clenching. I don't know.

If anyone is thinking of trying this out, I recommend going with a friend who can tell you what you're doing wrong, grabbing a can of Lysol to kill the mildew stink in your rented boots, and wearing not just snow pants and goggles (and yes, regular clothes), but a coat, and some good gloves. I got snow in the rudest of places, sneaking in down the back of my pants, and you do not want to fall into a big deep bank of powder with nothing good between your long sleeve shirt and your crappy small gloves. The good part is, once your skin gets numb it doesn't hurt anymore.

All that aside, I really didn't get too cold, and it was a blast. I've got to go again some time when I have some more of that green paper stuff in my wallet.