Saturday, January 08, 2005
day THREE ...
Since I didn't have an Clariion install/config to observe, Thursday "appeared" to be a free day. My manager was supposed to be header to Irvine and no further instructions were given to me. I gave him a call but did not hear back by Wednesday night. By then plans were already in motion.
While we were picking up Chinese take-out, I asked my cousin what she wanted to do tomorrow. Somehow I ended up saying something like "think about something you really want to do so you don't have any regrets when you leave." This led to her thinking really hard then saying "TAHOE." Keep in mind that this is 8-9 pm on Wednesday. While it totally caught me by surprise, after talking it over and thinking about the logistics, I realized I had to go. It was most likely my last chance to go this year, plus I would get a chance to test out the boots that I had bought previously. Not to mention that my cousin was dying to go, AND it would be on a weekday meaning that less people would be on the mountain.
After dinner I checked a few web sites and decided on the Sierra@Tahoe resort. It was the closest one to SF, plus I'd get a chance to check out a non-Boreal Tahoe resort. Another issue was whether or not to tell my mom that we were going :) I decided not to, mostly because John had fractured his clavicle while boarding. Ironically it was at Sierra too IIRC. I had mentioned something about going to Monterey Bay Aquarium the previous day, so our disappearance would not have been too shocking. The spontanity of the situation required extreme stealth to be able to leave undetected. I quickly packed everything that was necessary including extra winter gear for Amy. The plan was the wake up at 5am and head off, but I decided to set the alarm for 4:30, figuring that we might need the extra half hour. I also had to screw in my bindings since I'd removed them and listed them on Ebay, figuring that I wouldn't hav e another chance to use them this year. They actually sold for about $45 more than I'd paid for. At 1:00am I headed to bed, thinking that this was a crazy, spontaneous idea and hoping that everything would go according to plan.
My cousin would later say that I seemed to be freaked out about going. I did have legitimate concerns though. First and formost was that I wasn't too clear on my job duties for that day. My worst fear would be that I'd get a call from my manager and he'd say "I have something for you do to, go to the Mountain View office." 2nd was safety issue. I didn't want to drive up in a pouring rainstorm which would increase the possibility of an accident. Plus the John thing. If one of us got injured, my mom would definitely yell at me (getting injured sucks too). After thinking about these caveats for a bit, I decided that I HAD to go. This kind of opportunity does not present itself too often (Getting paid on a weekday to go boarding).
I woke up at 4:27am and promptly woke up my cousin. To my amazement she woke up quickly and got ready in record time. She really wanted to ski :) The biggest problem was opening the front door quietly since the rain and cold had expanded the wood. Eventually I got it open and got everything into the car. We were both pretty giddy about sneaking out. The weather was not an issue driving up. The only trouble spots for me was hitting a patch of snow and skidding. I freaked out a bit since I wasn't used to driving on snow. My cousin was more like "Pssshhh. I drive on 2 inches of snow everyday in ND." We talked a lot during the drive which is nice because there was a real chance of me falling asleep. We reached Sierra at around 8:50 which was ideal since the lodge opened at 9. It was lightly snowing and the conditions looked perfect.
Getting ready for boarding took more time than I had liked but eventually we hit the slopes. Funny thing was we both lost track of each other immediately since she headed down right away while I was still strapping in my right foot. Eventually found her again. Sierra has some great runs, way better than Boreal. There were few people on the mountain as well, which was nice. Initially I was constantly adjusting my boots and bindings, trying to get the most comfortable fit I could. I was able to carve a lot better this time out, having more faith in my boots. Observing other boarders gave me insight on some of the nuances of carving. So my carving improved but I still wasn't able to take the next step and hit the jumps. I bailed on two attempts just to go over a really steep bump. So I'll wait till I get peer-pressured into attempting more jumps (getting a helmet would be nice).
Lunch was really bland and forgettable. Then four more hours of boarding. This is one of the typical runs. My cousin would wait for me to get strapped in. Then I would zip past her on the steep parts and take a break to wait for her to catch up. Then she'd need to take a break. Then the cycle would start again. Sometimes she'd pass me while I'd be taking a break looking for her. I think snowboarding is the most fun when you have someone to keep up with, carving into the midst of the wake they leave behind. So everyone get really good!
¶ 6:29 AM
While we were picking up Chinese take-out, I asked my cousin what she wanted to do tomorrow. Somehow I ended up saying something like "think about something you really want to do so you don't have any regrets when you leave." This led to her thinking really hard then saying "TAHOE." Keep in mind that this is 8-9 pm on Wednesday. While it totally caught me by surprise, after talking it over and thinking about the logistics, I realized I had to go. It was most likely my last chance to go this year, plus I would get a chance to test out the boots that I had bought previously. Not to mention that my cousin was dying to go, AND it would be on a weekday meaning that less people would be on the mountain.
After dinner I checked a few web sites and decided on the Sierra@Tahoe resort. It was the closest one to SF, plus I'd get a chance to check out a non-Boreal Tahoe resort. Another issue was whether or not to tell my mom that we were going :) I decided not to, mostly because John had fractured his clavicle while boarding. Ironically it was at Sierra too IIRC. I had mentioned something about going to Monterey Bay Aquarium the previous day, so our disappearance would not have been too shocking. The spontanity of the situation required extreme stealth to be able to leave undetected. I quickly packed everything that was necessary including extra winter gear for Amy. The plan was the wake up at 5am and head off, but I decided to set the alarm for 4:30, figuring that we might need the extra half hour. I also had to screw in my bindings since I'd removed them and listed them on Ebay, figuring that I wouldn't hav e another chance to use them this year. They actually sold for about $45 more than I'd paid for. At 1:00am I headed to bed, thinking that this was a crazy, spontaneous idea and hoping that everything would go according to plan.
My cousin would later say that I seemed to be freaked out about going. I did have legitimate concerns though. First and formost was that I wasn't too clear on my job duties for that day. My worst fear would be that I'd get a call from my manager and he'd say "I have something for you do to, go to the Mountain View office." 2nd was safety issue. I didn't want to drive up in a pouring rainstorm which would increase the possibility of an accident. Plus the John thing. If one of us got injured, my mom would definitely yell at me (getting injured sucks too). After thinking about these caveats for a bit, I decided that I HAD to go. This kind of opportunity does not present itself too often (Getting paid on a weekday to go boarding).
I woke up at 4:27am and promptly woke up my cousin. To my amazement she woke up quickly and got ready in record time. She really wanted to ski :) The biggest problem was opening the front door quietly since the rain and cold had expanded the wood. Eventually I got it open and got everything into the car. We were both pretty giddy about sneaking out. The weather was not an issue driving up. The only trouble spots for me was hitting a patch of snow and skidding. I freaked out a bit since I wasn't used to driving on snow. My cousin was more like "Pssshhh. I drive on 2 inches of snow everyday in ND." We talked a lot during the drive which is nice because there was a real chance of me falling asleep. We reached Sierra at around 8:50 which was ideal since the lodge opened at 9. It was lightly snowing and the conditions looked perfect.
Getting ready for boarding took more time than I had liked but eventually we hit the slopes. Funny thing was we both lost track of each other immediately since she headed down right away while I was still strapping in my right foot. Eventually found her again. Sierra has some great runs, way better than Boreal. There were few people on the mountain as well, which was nice. Initially I was constantly adjusting my boots and bindings, trying to get the most comfortable fit I could. I was able to carve a lot better this time out, having more faith in my boots. Observing other boarders gave me insight on some of the nuances of carving. So my carving improved but I still wasn't able to take the next step and hit the jumps. I bailed on two attempts just to go over a really steep bump. So I'll wait till I get peer-pressured into attempting more jumps (getting a helmet would be nice).
Lunch was really bland and forgettable. Then four more hours of boarding. This is one of the typical runs. My cousin would wait for me to get strapped in. Then I would zip past her on the steep parts and take a break to wait for her to catch up. Then she'd need to take a break. Then the cycle would start again. Sometimes she'd pass me while I'd be taking a break looking for her. I think snowboarding is the most fun when you have someone to keep up with, carving into the midst of the wake they leave behind. So everyone get really good!
¶ 6:29 AM
