Snowboarding in Tahoe

chris (2007-09-30 19:49:29)
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Whilst staying in California in February this year, we went up to Tahoe to try our skills at snowboarding.. Bones was going to teach me and Choppy and Wendy how to get from top to bottom on a snowboard without making complete arses of ourselves.

It was a long drive and it was snowing really hard on the way up there. In fact the snow was falling so fast that we could hardly see in front of the vehicle. All the cars were moving at a snail's pace over the ice, just trying to follow each other's rear lights. It was quite surreal!

Our first attempt at snowboarding was on a slope not far from the sugarbowl resort. The snow was waist-deep and like powder, which made landing really soft - ideal for beginners. However the blizzard coming in made it hard to see where we were going. In fact it was such a whiteout that we were unable to see eachother on the slope when ascending on the lift just alongside. With everything being so white, it also becomes difficult to actually tell whether you are moving or not and on more than one occasion, when I thought I had come to a stop, I was actually thrown headlong (or backwards) to the ground, plunging into deep snow, as my snowboard unexpectedly caught an edge.

On the second week the snowfall had abated somewhat and we were able to go and stay up in Heavenly (one of the Tahoe resorts). The air was clear, the snow was in good condition and Bones took me up onto the blue slopes to learn. Above is a video clip of me having one of my first snowboarding lessons. I think this was on the morning of my third day

pretty good huh? We had a fourth day after that and I really started to get the feel of snowboarding. By the end of the week I was totally beaten and battered, though. I must have fallen on my bum a thousand times. Hopefully I will get up on the slopes again next year to see if my snowboarding skills are still intact!

Meanwhile, this second video is one which Bones took whilst descending one of the blues.

Christo
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