Andrew loves to snowboard. Also ironic because he grew up in Arizona. However, this did place him in proximity to some awesome mountains accessible on various youth retreats through church. Said youth trips also afforded him the opportunity to teach other people how to partake in the sport. I on the other hand, had tried snowboarding once in a half-day lesson where I got off the lift successfully and down the bunny slope facing forward a few times. So, I wanted to re-try and see if Andrew and I could form a dream team of snowboarding excellence. Or just enjoy it together.
So, we decided to venture to Taos New Mexico for the trip. This enabled us to spend a little time with my parents as well.
We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast in Taos. This was a first for the both of us, and was a winner. You should read the breakfast page for the Cottonwood Inn in order to understand how great the food was. We had home-made plumb and raspberry syrups on french toast, eggs with green chile, fresh fruit, coffee, bacon, sausage, and biscuits to name a few of the dishes. Normally, the leftover food goes to the chickens that the Innkeepers have. Andrew managed to diminish their rations significantly, to the point that the rooster was following him each time we walked by the chicken coop. There were cookies waiting for us each day when we got back, a movie and book library to borrow from, a hot tub, and did I mention great breakfasts?
So, as to the snowboarding. I was able to borrow a board from one of Wes' friends in town. Before going on the trip Andrew warned me that my calves were going to be on fire the first few days, that I was going to fall often and have to get back up, so I was ready for some pain. And the first day there was lots of pain as I "leafed" down runs, and had to stay on either toe side or heel side for long periods not knowing how to carve. Taos has some awesome blues and blacks, but the greens are often narrow and kind of flat. Two things that I had a hard time with as I was just starting out.
The second day I was bound and determined to learn how to carve. Time to get serious. Problem is, to carve to have to start pointing the board down hill. And down a pretty steep hill. Turns out, this terrified me. Really. I had this image in my head of me shooting off the side of the run into trees, or just careening down the hill unable to stop myself. And so, even though my head was trying to tell my feet to let the board point down that hill, my feet refused. (And by that I mean I was plain chicken) This made it a bit more difficult to learn how to carve. Andrew, by grace, was really patient with me the whole day. Slowly, I started to figure out that I WASN'T going to fly off the mountain if I worked up the courage to point down that hill. And by the end of the day, there was a little, weak carving going on.
We took the next day off, which made me realize how amazingly sore my entire body was. But the rest was great. It also started snowing on the mountain that day.
When we got to the mountain the next day, it was still snowing, and there had been 8 inches over night. The powder made carving more interesting, and falling a lot softer. I ended up feeling sick half way through the day, and we took the rest of the day off.
The last day was the best. 10 more inches of powder had fallen, and the sun was out. We decided to rent me a board that was more my size. The one I rented ended up being a good 3 inches shorter that the borrowed board which helped my confidence more than anything. As the day went on I was actually carving back and forth down runs and not having to stop at all. We snowboarded the whole day without stopping and finished with some steins of great beer.
Snowboarding ended up being hard for me to learn not from the physical aspect, but the mental one. I was such a frady cat of pointing down hill, going fast, and actually taking some risks. There came a point where I thought to myself, "What's the worst that can happen if you go a bit faster than you want? You fall, maybe hard, in some snow. And then you get up. Take the risk already!" And when I was able to be ok with a little speed, a little uncertainty, a little risk, that's when I actually got better, and enjoyed snowboarding! I really like the feeling of being in control, of know the outcome of my actions. And being in new situations does not afford me that feeling. So I can either get anxious about them, and be somewhat paralyzed, or I can move forward and see what happens. And it was great when I did. The sensation of smoothly sliding over the side of a mountain covered in snow felt like a mixture of calm and freedom, if that makes any sense.
I also must say that New Mexico is one of my favorite places. I love the food. I love the culture. I love the vast landscapes and the variety of outdoor adventure stuff you can do there. I love seeing streets names in Spanish, adobe, green chile, sun, and little pretension. It's a pretty great place.
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