we got a moderately early start from Pants’ place. our first stop was Manhattan Bagel for Juevo Ranchero Wraps (verdict: Yummy!) and coffee for me. it’s important to start your adventure day off with a good breakfast. next stop was at Pants’ friend’s place up in Frederick, which was on our way. he kindly loaned me some thick gloves, because apparently my nice leather gloves aren’t adequate for snow sports. we left ahead of our trip companions in the name of expediency, as both Pants and i had some business to take care of up at the mountain.
our destination was Liberty Mountain, which is surprisingly close for being in Pennsylvania. after what seemed like forever waiting for Pants to get his boots on and gather his gear, we headed off to the ticket booth. it seems like forever when you are losing your nerve with each passing moment.
we got on our way to the Member Services area, where Pants was picking up his discount card for the season (he intends on frequenting the joint, for some reason). i purchased the “Beginner’s Package,” which provides the newbie with a day-long lift pass good on the easiest two slopes, equipment rental, and an hour-long lesson in your chosen death-means (to prolong the inevitable, i presume). i went to get my equipment whilst Pants went to have his board waxed. after i had gathered my numerous bulky objets d'sports, Pants assisted in encumbering my feet in snowboard boots, and we trundled off to find the lessons.
we had about 20 minutes before lessons began, so again, Pants showed me how to work the bindings and hop around. i shooed Pants away so he could actually snowboard, and waited until the instructors showed up and a large group of new boarders was split into sets of 5-6 people. the lesson ended up being two hours (in a good way), and my instructor was thankfully very nice. i also was the first to fall down, before we were even moving. but no one was really looking so my story is that i was NOT the first to fall down. i was like the second or third to fall once we started sliding down the hill.
at one point, i was having difficulty with a particular maneuver called a toe-side turn, so i asked what i was doing wrong — and lo and behold, it turned out the bindings for my left foot were not fastened tightly to the board! the extremely kind, experienced snowboarding boyfriend of one of my classmates took my board back to the shop to have it fixed, and offered me use of his board in return — his CUSTOM SHINY GIANT board. i was really uncomfortable with that, so the instructor traded me HIS CUSTOM board for the other guy's. it was nearly a moot point anyway, cos by the time either of us needed to use a board and fastened the bindings, the fellow was back with the screws tightened on my board. later, after the lessons, i had to have it tightened again, but it stayed put (mostly) for the rest of my day there.
Pants kept stopping by to see how it was going during the lesson, and got some video of one of my turning maneuvers. the thumbs up at the end is not because i executed it so well, but more that i remained upright through the entire move.
he and our slope-mates also snapped a few shots. here we are!
that’s yours truly during the lesson.
the blokes and myself.
aw, aren’t we a cute bunch!
so i survived, if a little achy for the next couple days (and by a little, i mean a LOT). strangely my arms were the most affected, probably from all the push-ups i had to do to get up. it was really hard to open doors after the trip. ow, my most of me!
final verdict: i guess i’m going again in a week. but i’ll be getting the beginner’s package again, since i won’t be venturing off the first two slopes — it’s cheaper than buying a four-hour all lift pass and a rental.
2 comments:
AWESOME! I love how you can tell it's you by your cute purple hat.
it's a joker hat and i sewed bells onto the ends of the three parts, so every time i go down i jingle happily...
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