12 December 2014

Greetings! From my warm and toasty room. I know it has been awhile, but nothing interesting has currently been happening in the Canadian Rockies. It gets warm, it gets cold. All the snow melts, and a week later there's snow up to my knees.

Last week I went snowboarding for the first time ever.

Apparently this is a really great board

I purchased my board off of Canadian craigslist, also known as Kijiji. A new board and bindings would have easily been over $500, but I purchased mine used for $125. When I went to get it waxed the girls at the shop were surprised at how much I had gotten it for. My boots and helmet which were half of the price of gear in the stores in Banff unfortunately did not make it in time to my lesson last Thursday, so I had to rent boots and a helmet. I'm not going to lie, rental gear makes you feel like a dork on the hill.

Anyhow, I woke up early in the morning to catch a bus to Lake Louise which is 40 minutes away from Banff. Although Sunshine Village is only 20 minutes away, the thought about having everyone I know watch me as I tumbled down the hill wasn't very appealing, so I opted for the much quieter Lake Louise.

I had chosen the full day group lesson for snowboarding as it was around the same price as a 2 hour lesson. It turns out I was the only one who signed up for a lesson that day, so I got an accidental, full day, private lesson for half of the price.

I had prepared myself for anything, including a trip to the hospital.  My instructor asked me every time I fell if  I was ok, but only one of my falls actually hurt, the rest just looked dramatic, or were because I had thrown myself down as I didn't really know how to stop.

Although initially the thought of sliding on one piece of wood seemed unnatural and scary, when I got on the hill I was fine. My instructor Shannon was really great and there were no injuries at the end of the day.

Everyone kept telling me to be prepared to be sore. I didn't believe them as my falls didn't hurt and my muscles hurt more after bootcamp, but I did end up basically paralyzed the next day. The following days were painful as it was an effort to even put on my clothes. But at the end of the day I had a good run. I planned on returning to the hill this week, but due to our recent warm weather, most of the snow has melted, and that which remains is an icy death trap. Not conditions for a beginner snowboarder unless she was to go flying and face planting on ice.

The new face of pro-snowboarding? Probably not.