Front edge, back edge

With little ado about much of anything, my best friend from high school is among us during his Spring Break. To mark the occasion two other friends from Portland are driving up so we can all head up the slopes to Snoqualmie for some night skiing and snowboarding. Once here, Aaron, Matt and Sarah took to waxing their equipment (cue Bevis and Butthead laughter) while Robyn and I scoped out some new snow goggles at Gart Sports. 'Round about 3pm we took off for snowier places and, after being hit on by a stoned rental equipment employee, took to the white slopes.

With Matt Turner as my guide and Robyn as my moral support (having only boarded once herself) we ascended and decended a few times into the evening. In that time, I learned the perils of getting off the ski lift, how to traverse on the back and front side of my board, and how (in theory) to transition between the two. My final two runs were the diamonds in the rough as far as my first snowboarding trip was concerned. I transitioned and found myself on my face or butt fewer times than before. So few, in fact, that I could've probably counted them! Anyway, everyone else (Sarah and her skis included) had a great time, with the exception of Sarah, Robyn and I, made a few more runs before the evening was over.

We dropped off our rental gear and, amidst the now heavy snowfall, hopped in the all-wheel-drive machine and hit the highway for home. Well, the roads were slow at the pass but my new, blue Soobie handled it well. I never felt like the car's motion was out of my control. I wouldn't intentionally put myself (or others) in such challenging driving conditions but if I would, it would be in a Subaru. After the snow turned to rain the roads were faster and we were truly on our way. Only the hungry stomachs of our group and a McDonalds could slow our progress, albeit momentarily. Through the Auburn valley down Hwy. 18 we drove without much white-stuff in the way. Upon crossing the Puyallup River, however, we again found ourselves in a wintery wonderland! Three or more inches of snow blanketed everything in sight and briefly convinced me that I'd taken a drastically wrong turn and headed back into the mountains. The whiteness continued on home and I parked my dirty yet snow-free vehicle among our other white-covered cars. Strange sight.

Snowboarding was good. Don't know if winter sports will become a regular pasttime but I can say that I've still got plenty to learn. The transition will come and that will be the deciding day. Perhaps the Olympics will be a stop on my list... perhaps not.

Comments (0) | To Top