WasillaKatie

I’m waiting to go again today and tomorrow, for 26 and 27….

Not sure I’m going to make 43 days – but I know I’ll get past 30!

I just finished day 14 – I feel like I’m behind where I should be, but it’s only January and I should be able to ride until May. My goal is still 43 days. I had a super run today though. There was about 4 inches of new snow on top of last night’s grooming, so it was super smooth, buttery soft, and carvable – I felt like a rockstar. Since the grooming happened before the morning snowfall, I could care less where the trails were and where they weren’t. I kept aiming for the untouched lines, and rejoicing in my roostertails. I had my music cranked up really high – and being Wednesday, the mountain was so empty, that I was finding freshies from 10:30 first chair all the way until 2:30 in the afternoon!

Before lunch, I came up to the bottom of chair 6, and feeling kind of hungry, thought I would head down to the bake shop, instead of back up the chair. Feeling daring, I hit Don’s run for the first time. it’s a black diamond, tree run that runs underneath chair 4. I stare at it every time I go up chair 4, and it usually looks terrifying! Today it didn’t. I dropped in, and it was unbelievably steep. I took my time, and worked my way down. I only hit about 3 rocks, and went over probably 5 or 6 branches, but I had a super thick layer of wax on my board (and after later examination confirmed no damage) so I wasn’t really worried. Amazingly enough, I stayed on my feet for the whole run! It was so cool to go past the “open” signs, and feel like I was really off-trail, not just weaving in and out like I usually do.

Of course, at the end of Don’s, there is a long groomer – and after that really rough, bumpy run, the groomer was so smooth and soft that I took off – I had crazy flying speed, rejoicing in the smoothness – then I hit a chunk of crud and REALLY went flying – end over end over end! I felt a really hard THUNK, and thanked the goddesses for reminding me to wear my helmet! I was able to laugh, get up, and get going again. However, this evening I noticed a lot of new black and blue marks in the shower!

In all, it was an AWESOME day! I felt like I really had my feet under me, in a way that I hadn’t really felt before. I hit some amazing stuff, pushed my limits, and had the freedom of riding alone – no one to keep up with, no one to wait for – just shredding for the sake of shredding. And I have the satisfaction this evening of having sore muscles.

I just heard yesterday, that my friend, Hal, did an end over end cartwheel in 96 inches of fresh powder, and landed like a lawn dart – snowboard on top, head straight down.

He wasn’t wearing a beacon, his buddy didn’t see that he was in trouble (due to low visibility), and he nearly panicked, but was eventually able to free himself.

SCARY stuff.

I need to register for my class.