Warning: Blonde On a Snowboard

We have been having some awesome snow! I am excited this year becuase I am picking up a new extreme sport: Snowboarding. Saturday was a great snowboarding day and my cousin and I decided to go to Canonsburg in GR. The roads were perfect for driving. There weren't that many people on the hills which I was relieved about since it was my first time and all. My cousin thought that we should start out on the bunny hill so that the really good boarders wouldn't get upset with us because we were falling down. Now I had been warned against the bunny hill by my friend James who is an expert on this matter. However, I did not heed his advice, at the coaxing of my cousin, and soon regretted it!

First, we walked up just halfway to try from there. It took me several minutes just to get my feet securely attached to my board. I then somehow managed to get to the bottom of this hill without too much mishap. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my feet out of my board and it took some wrestling to finally wrench them free. We tried from halfway again and then decided we were ready for the top. Now, the hardest thing about this hill is the rope you have to grab to be pulled to the top. I carefully approached this rope with James' warning ringing in my ears. I let it run through my mittens for a moment and then grabbed onto it. In a split second I was jerked from my feet and lying on my back to the delight of the crowd gathered around me. After two more failed attempts I decided that the rope was for sissys and I wanted to earn my ride and walk to the top!

I went from the top maybe twice. At one point I was balancing really good! Then I began rapidly picking up speed! I lost control, threw my arm out to catch myself, felt my elbow pop, flipped over a couple of times, smacked my head nice and hard, and then just laid there. It wasn't until my cousins voice reached an alarmed pitch that I stuck my arm up and waved to signal that I was ok. This was my signal that it was time for a break. We had been snowboarding for a little over an hour.

After a 20 min. break we move on to a larger hill which required a lift to reach the top. I was nervous about getting on this lift, but I really had nothing to fear. It was much easier than that ridiculous rope. I started down the top of the hill with fair confidence. The first drop was a little steep so I picked up a lot of speed rather quickly. I wiped out a short way down, but got myself back into an upright position and continued downhill. I fell maybe four or five times down this hill. I rode this hill five times. Once I felt I had a good ride. Twice I almost cried out of frusteration and maybe a little pain. Right before my last ride I knew that I needed to be done for the day. That fifth time was probably the worst. I was extremely tired and could barely get myself back into an upright position after falling. While I was on my knees begging the hill for mercy, my cousin passed over me in the lift yelling that she was going to go again and that I shouldn't give up. This inspired another girl on the lift ( whom we had sort of made friends with) to also shout down encouragement to me, which inspired another guy on the lift to also shout out his encouragement. With all that support I forced myself upright and made it down the rest of the hill. We were on this hill for probably about two or three hours.

On the way home we missed our exit and drove an hour out of our way. I had not eaten all day and was very hungry. When I got home I had some soup. Unfortunately all the physical exhertion and waiting so long to eat caused me to get sick. I felt awful. This morning I was incredibly sore. Every inch of my body hurt. I had to pick my head up with my hand to look at my alarm clock! I managed to drag myself out of bed to go lead worship with as much energy I could muster.

I hear we are to get more snow through this week. I'm sure I'll be recovered enough to hit some more hills by then! Bring it on!!!

More Pictures!! I added some more pictures to my picture blog. Click the My Pictures link at the top of my links list to the left.