Sore

I tried snowboarding for the first time this past Friday, and I'm still sore today. I went with some friends to Arizona Snowbowl (motto: "It ain't Colorado, but then again, it ain't an $800 plane fare either") on Thursday. It's always nice to drive from Phoenix to Flagstaff - it's less than three hours, and the climate change is fairly dramatic (it gets a lot cooler). I've skied before, but decided to try snowboarding. The way I see it, snowboarders look like kooks in the lift line, with their pigeon-toed shuffle and slide to the chair, while skiers look cool leaning on the poles. As much as I like skiing, I think boarders look cooler on the slopes, leaning this way and that, and dragging their hands (or, some say, just their knuckles) in the snow.

I'm an okay skier for having grown up in Florida, but I just wanted to give boarding a try. The verdict? It's fun, with the potential to be a lot more fun if I get better at it. The problem was, even though we had two days on the slopes, I was only able to board for one: Saturday saw me in the lodge sipping hot cocoa (and perhaps the occasional alcoholic libation), watching the NCAA ball games, and nursing an injured knee.

How did I torque my knee? Well, there I was on Casino, a notoriously difficult black diamond trail high up the mountain. I was linking all my turns, and just totally shredding. Suddenly, a school bus full of kids ran off the road above the ski area, and careened down the slopes right at me. Without even time to think, I found myself nose to nose with the bus, the two of us traveling down the mountain at blinding speed. I dug in with my board, and managed to slow the bus to a gentle stop just before it would have hit a pole supporting the triple chairlift. Luckily, I absorbed the force of the impact, not the ski lift. The only incident (not even an injury) was the school bus driver's ears were ringing from the kids' screams.

We returned home to Phoenix yesterday evening. This afternoon, sore knee and all, I worked outside at landscaping, planting 15 new plants in the front yard. I'll sleep good tonight.

Addendum:
I realize that I may have inadvertently included some slang terms in my description of how I injured my knee. For my loyal readers, I'll provide a translation:
How did I torque hurt my knee? Well, there I was on Casino Tenderfoot, a notoriously difficult laughably simple black diamond green circle (beginner's) trail high halfway up the mountain. I was linking all the vast minority of my turns, and just totally shredding managing to stand up. Suddenly, a school bus full of kids ran off the road above the ski area, and careened down the slopes right at me I managed to shift my weight to the downhill edge of my board. Without even time to think, I found myself nose to nose with the bus, the two of us traveling down the mountain at blinding speed executed a perfect face-plant, with my head bouncing at least once from the force of the impact. I dug in with my board nostrils, and managed to slow the bus to a gentle stop just before it would have hit a pole supporting the triple chairlift get a whole mess of snow up my nose. Luckily, I absorbed the force of the impact , not the ski lift with my face, rather than my wristguards. The only incident (not even an injury) was the school bus driver's ears were ringing from the kids' screams skiers and boarders that saw me laughed so hard they peed their pants.