Finally

Since I'm not a snowboarder and never will be (see this post if you've forgotten why) I haven't been able to see Chad doing his thing on the mountain. Until yesterday. Our friend Russ was cool enough to take a quick video with his iPhone so I could see Chad in action. I must say, I'm impressed!

Sierra Summit Friends

On Saturday we made a spontaneous day-trip up to our local ski resort to meet up with friends from the Bay Area. Everyone (but me--although I did see a very pregnant woman snowboarding--yikes!) either snowboarded or went skiing for the afternoon and had a great time. The sun was out and the weather was beautiful so it was a perfect day in the mountains. Here they all are before heading up the lift.

Snowboarding

Chad and I took snowboarding lessons on Friday. It wasn't a completely disastrous experience, but for me it wasn't a success either. After falling more times than I could count I decided to give it a rest. And by rest I mean I sat down on a bench and watched Chad finish his lessons for the rest of the day.

It was a fun day, but snowboarding is super hard. I completely got the head-straight-down-the-mountain-at-a-good-speed part of snowboarding, but throw in stopping, turning or slowing down and I was toast. Every time. And it hurt. I never knew my body could twist and turn in so many unnatural and ungraceful positions. So after a full-force face-plant into the ice I decided I was done.

Chad, on the other hand, rocked it. He went to both the morning lesson and the afternoon lesson and picked the sport up pretty quickly. Don't get me wrong, he fell too, but not nearly as often as I did. By the end of the day he was stopping, turning, doing the "falling leaf" and more.

That's him in the top photo turning so he doesn't hit crowd. If that were me I would've plowed right into them.

But I tried, which is something, right? And hey, at least I looked the part.

Winter Wonderland. Yes, I said it.

Last Saturday we went to the cabin for a night. On Sunday before heading home we took a quick trip to the local ski resort to see what the crowds were like. Chad's been to the dry slopes in the summer but hasn't seen it bustling with people in the winter. And now Chad is desperate to try snowboarding. So we're going to give it a go. Next week, to be exact.