Extreme Conditions

Well, I was hoping to snowboard Wednesday thru Friday, but Wednesday I was still getting used to solids and walking around. My head cold was still just as strong as ever, but I knew it wasn't going away in a hurry.

Thursday was my first day back snowboarding in two years, and even after being sick I still felt really strong and natural when I got out there. The only really odd thing was that I was super dizzy. I think it was the pressure in my head from my head cold plus the altitude, plus the shortness of breath from the cold air and exertion. It was a little scary at first, but it sort of added to the whole boarding experience. Conditions were beautiful- powdery and soft. Charles swore that I was boarding better than I ever have before, but he also said that two years ago too.
Mari Ann, whose knees were bothering her too much to ski, went dog sledding Thursday. She of course loved the dogs and they loved her.

Friday is when things really got extreme. Charles woke me up around 8 and asked if I wanted to join him. Then he mentioned that it was 8 below on the mountain, so I figured I would wait until mid-morning. When I joined him around 10:30, it had “warmed” to 6 below, snowing heavily with 40 mile an hour winds at the top of the mountain. Needless to say, at the top, there was no visibility. The winds were blowing uphill, cross hill, whichever way it felt like. We headed for the trees for cover, but in the open areas, you had to feel what to do, because you couldn’t see what the terrain below you looked like or tell how fast you were going. The trees were dangerous too because they sometimes formed wind tunnels. To be honest about it, I was dressed so warm and it took so much energy to board, I was hot most of the day. Every once in a while on the lift, the wind would find a gap between my goggles and my helmet, or my thumb, separate from the hand warmers would freeze up. But overall, I have to say that I was mostly too hot, rather than too cold that day.

I realized that when I was boarding, I thought of myself as a little kid playing in the snow. I'd think, I'm a 28 year old woman...and then I'd think, that can't be, I wouldn't feel like this. Of course until I'd fall or when I'd wake up stiff the next morning. Then I felt my age.

I’m really thankful that we had the opportunity to go to Steamboat. I feel like I am privileged just to have those 2 days of amazing boarding this year. But, it was still really hard to be sick for most of a vacation that I’ve been looking forward to for the past 6 months.