The Snowboarding Experience

When I was younger my family went skiing. And. I. HATED. IT! It was the worst! It was cold, it took forever, and my stupid ski kept falling off and sliding down the mountain! Worst experience ever!

Flash forward to 2014 and I make the decision to try snowboarding to please my husband and his family (that's not true). Every year around Christmastime my husband's family stay at their condo in Wolf Creek and going snowboarding/skiing at Wolf Mountain. Not wanting to feel left out or cause anyone to not participate in their traditions, I decided to learn to snowboard, even though I was terrified.

So wearing my brother-in-law's clothes and using his snowboard (actually a combination of the twin's stuff (they are both on LDS missions so they didn't need it)), I geared up and joined my in-laws at Wolf Mountain.

My husband was wearing his new hat with a built in beard, which proved to be way to hot on the surprisingly hot winters day, but he looked good!

So I get strapped into the snowboard and we board the ski lift and head to the top of the bunny hill, where I fall off the ski lift into the snow and my husband helps drag me out of the way of others exiting the ski lift (thank goodness for my helmet, sunglasses, and the cold that helped hide my shame).

I sit at the top of the mountain, surrounded by my in-laws all trying to tell me how to tell me how to stand up. But I can't, because I have no strength... basically anywhere in my body... which was all proved through the duration of my experience. So my father-in-law had to help me up... multiple times.

After quite a bit of back-seat driving I am abandoned by everyone except my husband, who proved just how kind, loving, and patient he is as he sat there as it took me twenty (or more) minutes to get up after my many falls. Somehow I learned how to go down the mountain and we reached the bottom of the mountain and we got back on the ski lift to try again.

At the top, I again fell off the ski lift, to the major concern of the lift attendant who tried to instruct me on something but I was too concerned about getting up again to really care. So there I was at the top again, not knowing how to get up. This time took much longer to get up partly because a huge group of people were blocking my way and even if I did get up I wouldn't know how to get around all the people.

So I sat there, my husband far away from me down the mountain, but still in sight. Some random woman comes over and tries to teach me how to get up but it's just so difficult! And then my husband starts hopping up the mountain (miraculously without falling) to get back up to me. My mother-in-law shows up off the ski lift and comes over to help as well. So I am finally able to get up and start gliding down the mountain.

At this point I'm so frustrated about how difficult it is to get up that I do everything in my will power to not fall down. That time I only fell down three times going down the mountain and I started to understand why people might enjoy snowboarding, and I knew I liked it much better than I ever did skiing.

I think we went down another two times, each time my mother-in-law using her skis to help me up when I fell (thanks Michelle, you're fantastic!). Then we went into the lodge and had giant greasy French fries that were absolutely delicious! And I was done. I did not want to go back out in the cold again, I did not want to use any more of my strength, and I was just done.

But they made me go one more time so they could get a recording of my awesome snowboarding skills, which didn't even turn out so you can't see it. I went down the mountain one more time, without falling down once and I fell an exhilarating rush of adrenaline and felt really happy... until I reached the bottom, didn't know how to stop so I fell backwards and landed ridiculously hard on my arms. I was able to go back to the condo after that with my mother-in-law and eat fruit and take a nap.

I ended up ridiculously sore and unable to move basically any muscles for a few days. It was/is awful. I think I will try it again next year, after I complete all my New Years Resolutions and am stronger and can possibly be able to lift myself up off the ground, but for a first time I was happily satisfied and glad that I did it!

Have you ever tried something new that scared you? Leave a comment below and let me know! 

THANKS FOR READING!!