no pain, no gain

as i sit here, back at work for the first time in the new year, my legs hurt. so while i wait for videos to upload to my school website for the parents, i thought i'd fill you in on a highly successful and hilarious trip to white tail.

for those of you not in the know, white tail is the closest decent resort to us. there's 20 trails, 16 of which are open currently. yes, more than half of them are out of my reach. for now. one resort is closer, but that was the site of my first trip to the slopes. it was painful. it may be time for a return trip.

anyhow, she and i left for our day trip, arrived to a packed house, and i strapped up warily. i will say one thing about this season that i already like better than last season. once i get my lift ticket, there's no fussing with changing into proper clothes, no waiting in line for rentals. just strap up, and hop on the lift. that's pretty much amazing.

let's go back to that wariness. i was skeptical of the quality of the snow. granted, it's all gravy because it's cold, and i was at least familiar with the resort. no mistakenly going up the wrong lift and being in over my head. after the bruising season debut, i wasn't real confident from the get go. fortunately, the snow was softer and the temperature was warmer, so the ice was pretty much nonexistent.

my heel side turns got easier as the day progressed. the links were coming smoother. the only times i was falling was to avoid people that weren't being particularly prudent in their rocketing down the mountain. a few times, that left me on my tail for a little bit longer than i wanted as i waited for a clearing to merge back in. i saw an "i'm proud of you" smile on her lips as we were actually able to ride down a few trails together. by together, i don't mean her stopping to encourage me every 10 yards or so. granted, they were a little bit too easy for her, but they were right where i needed to be. on my feet.

...and then my confidence (and my better half) convinced me to go up the lift to the more advanced terrain before the day was through. peering out over the edge, i got that same uneasy feeling that had all but disappeared with the successes of the day. after a few false starts, i sheepishly admitted that i was in over my head, sent her on down the mountain, and trudged my way down 900+ vertical feet on the side of the trail, dragging my board alongside. when i got to the bottom, she was there, waiting to apologize. i ran over, stopped her with a kiss, and said, "i'm tired. can we go home now?"

so instead of bruises this time, i left with weak, tired legs. they still ache today. two more weeks 'til a four-day weekend. i hope there's some good weather!