Boarder Babe

I was invited by friend to join her and a group of people on a ski/board trip - "mmm, yeah, I'll think about it." I keep saying I want to make it to the mountains more, figure out how to be a snow bunny. But months go by and then it's summer again - it's happened for several years now. It was, apparently, a super deal with limited space - going once, going twice..."Oh alright, I'll go! I'm in! Pick me!" And that is how the adventure began.
I couldn't decide - ski? (i've done it just once before, even took lessons...not the best experience I've ever had. I spent alot of time on the t-bar and learning to scale up the mtn, wasted a lot of energy and then when it came to skiing my fear would drive me into the snow banks. tragic.really.for someone who's lived here for over a decade) or snowboard? (this is what all the cool kids are doing, right? But, I vividly remember trying out my older sister's skateboard back in the day. After 5 minutes I was done. No natural skateboarding talent at all. Would this be the same? Do I want to go down the mountain sideways?) My friend was doing the snowboard thing and after recognizing that skiing would leave me with her black diamond brother, I decided now was the time to learn.
I went to Sports Authority and got some snow pants. I rented a board after asking the kid behind the counter if they had a ski vs board aptitude test - alas, no such thing. He put my boots on the board...oh my! It was a gothic kind of scene with a scary "thing" draped in black and the snow board company logo covering his face (which I assume is a good thing - or I might still be having nightmares of my day on the mountain with the devil). As soon as I got home, I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out how to put my foot in the bindings. Once in, I stood up. My feet felt awkward in the boot, my calf unhappy with the pressure. I tried to maneuver around the living room, at one point almost falling over backward onto the hardwood floor. Fear.
The morning started early, with a bus ride to Monarch. Once off the bus, the wind was blowing and bitter. I kept feeling rushed to get inside, only to realize the goal of the day was to be out... in the wind that was blowing and bitter. Fortunately, a friend hooked me up with all the winter gear needed, including a helmet. Now, who doesn't feel cool in a helmet?
The first run down was frustrating, but by the end I had gotten the "make an S" thing down. I'm a bailer - think I'm going too fast, think I'm going to hit the kid- I bail. It takes so much energy to get back up! The worst - as always - was the chair lift. Nothing like getting nervous the whole way (perfomance anxiety) then getting to the top, shoved off and then doing the splits (ouch) and trying to recover and move out of the way before the next chair unloads it victims.
There were breaks for beer and lunch and de-thawing. Thank goodness! My body was exhausted but gracious...the real pain didn't come until the next morning. It was a task to roll over in the night, painful to bend down, take the stairs, get in and out of the rental car. I still have 2 purple bruises on my inner thigh - not quite sure how that happened.
Overall, and now that the pain is long gone... a good time. I want to get good at it. I think, if I work on not bailing and the chair lift departure, it could be pretty painless. Then I can be one of the cool kids.
I have decided that I would like to be the person in the chairlift booth - for at least a day. Can you imagine the chuckles that would be good for? I would've enjoyed watching myself do the splits...