Newbie Alert

It’s funny to imagine that I grew up living in the foothills of the Adirondack mountains of New York State and never went skiing. The little hill behind our house when we were kids didn’t count for much. But I remember when snowboarding started becoming a big sport and my brother got one and talked about how cool it was, and I never tried it. When Robert got his snowboard a few years ago, I tried it down a little hill at Voice and thought it would be fun to try it for real sometime. Well, since I had promised Robert I would go with him, we finally did today. We made a few visits to the local sport shops – snow pants, good leather faced gloves with built in wrist guards, and goggles – and over $100 later, we were on the way to Michigan. Despite the bad roads, we arrived, and another $100 later (crazy holiday rates!), we were on the slopes. (You see, this is why I do not do these things very often!)

At any rate, it was seriously awful for me at first. I could not control this thing strapped to my feet. Even on the beginner hill, I was all over the place. The second time down was a successful run with no falls, but grabbing the tow rope and getting jerked back up the hill was an adventure. I tried switching my lead foot around to having my right at the front (they call this “goofy”) and it was … much worse. So I switched back to the other way. After many times down and me still not getting the hang of it, we decided to try the intermediate hill. Naturally, this one was quite a disaster for me and it also had the “dreaded” lift. However, that was not bad at all until the end when I fell getting off. Then again, many people did, so I didn’t mind. In fact, so many people fall doing this sport, you don’t feel too bad about it. What’s funny is the kids who cruise by and ask you if you are ok or need help.

We stopped for warmth and dinner at the lodge. It was great – grilled chicken and a salad. Just what I needed, apparently because when I went back to the intermediate hill, bam! I did it no problem! I was so excited. Went back up on the lift and didn’t fall. Went down a few more times and no falls. It was great. We talked on the way back up the hill about people really falling hard. My last one down, I took a head-over-heels tumble two or three times. It was painful but also hilarious. When I got to the bottom, Robert was laying there. “What happened to you?” I asked. He hadn’t fallen on the hills at all today. He said he had fallen near the bottom and really slammed his shoulder into the ground. We rode back up and I convinced him to go to the medic. They wrapped up his arm and sent us to Elkhart General Hospital where they pronounced him “Maximus Clavicle-us Brokennus.” He’s in a bit of pain and 6 weeks in a sling. I felt bad since I was the newbie and he was the one with experience but I was fine and he was broken. All in all, it was a really fun day for us. I really enjoyed trying something new and being outside in the great outdoors. Please pray for Robert’s broken collarbone, I know he will appreciate it.