#167 - winter

it's winter and it's been a weird one because we've actually had a winter! usually oregon gets one or two days of snow in the valley. in portland we've had weeks of snow, i think there were three different storms. it's been crazy and unusual. definitely a case of the weather going down the toilet due to global warming. this is not a post about the environment though. it's about snow and winter...and most importantly, snowboarding!

in college i took a course called snowboarding. it was one of the many one-credit PAC (physical activity course) classes that are available. i took it three times, in addition to other classes like bowling, ultimate frisbee and rock climbing. yes, i did take all those classes, for college credit. you do have to pay an extra fee of $350 or so but that buys you lift tickets, bus ride and one hour of instruction. i think we had 6 sessions at the mountain, every thursday. i always loaded up my MWF classes in winter term so that i could take this class. it was great! we had to leave early, like 5am or something, then it takes about 4 hours to get to the mountain. you take your one hour class and then get the rest of the day to ride the mountain. it was pretty tight! the four hours back to school were watching movies on the bus ride or sleeping. sure, it took all day and i was exhausted at the end but it was SOOOOO worth it!the first time i took the class i was a beginner and the next two times i did the intermediate course so you get different instructors that teach different skills. we did stuff like carving, the pipe, jumps, grabs, turns, etc. i felt like a badass. that was five years ago and i haven't gone since so i assume i am back to square one. many times i've thought about selling my equipment and just forgetting the whole thing, but i held on. i've got the board, bindings, boots, goggles, jacket, pants and gloves still.

now my friend from school is just starting out, she's only gone twice and has a car. our plan is to go next friday after school, to mt hood ski bowl for night skiing (apparently america's largest night ski area). the thing about night skiing is that it's cheaper and actually kind of neat. they have lights on the snow and it glows. cheaper is good cause snowboarding can be really expensive. $26 for night vs $43 for day, tuesdays are ladies night and it's $14 for night skiing. so we'll definitely hit that up! hours are 3pm to 10pm so that's a big chunk of time and you can't really go that long anyway. snowboarding all day is tiring!!!since i'm just starting up again i'll be super tired and sore the next day, i'm sure. i am just excited to get into snowboarding again! in the five years that i've not been boarding i have done surfing and skateboarding so hopefully some of that carries over. tho i've heard that surfing and snowboarding are opposites. both of them you kind of put pressure into your board though, it's just a different type. surfing (long board) puts me more at ease and is kind of meditating, snowboarding is hard-core high energy fun where you charge.

so anyway, hopefully we get it together and go next friday. i will have to update after that. maybe i'm too old to start this again...my creaky joints might have a say. we'll see. i'm sure dodgeball kind of keeps me in shape, lower-body muscle/joint-wise. or at least i like to think that.