Snowboarding!

There are mountains to the north of Vancouver that can be seen from around town on clear days, and the lights of the three ski fields up there are visible at night. Today we went snowboarding at one of them, Mount Seymour, which is only 17 kms from our house. :) Here are some photos taken on our way up...

Ben and I had brought our snowboarding gear (waterproof jackets, pants, gloves. goggles etc) with us from England/Australia. Then, over the last week or so, he found incredible bargains - on Craigslist of course! - for secondhand snowboards, bindings and boots. Even at the cheapest ski field (Seymour), it costs $40 per person per day to hire this gear... Well, Ben got two boards and one set of bindings for himself for $50, and boots for $30. Then he found a board for me for $70, and boots for $20. Everything is in very good condition and Ben was most excited! So now our main expenditure is the lift pass on days we go - $42pp at Seymour. Yay! :D

We collected some extras on our way up to Seymour. Lisa, Susie and Amber (who used to live where Sus lives and was back for a visit this weekend) came along for the ride, and spent the day hanging out in the lodge, taking photos, reading books, and drinking hot chocolate while we were off boarding!


Ben and I boarded mainly on two trails throughout the day - first on the one closest to the lodge, but once we'd done that a few times the lift line was getting too crowded, so we headed further up the mountain and boarded down a longer trail. Here are a few pics from the first part of the day...



Ben changed my bindings partway through the day, as the board had come with the bindings set in "natural" position (left foot forward), but I was having lots of trouble with my turns. Longtime readers may recall I had a similar problem the last time we went snowboarding - in Austria almost a year ago. Anyway, once I changed over to "goofy" (right foot forward), it felt a lot better - but I still stuggled all day with keeping my weight forward on my right foot when turning, and with being confident enough to carry through on turns. This is an ongoing problem that I will hopefully overcome while we live here, as it would make boarding much more enjoyable for me, and less boring/frustrating for Ben!!! :)

The view down over Vancouver from the lodge area was beautiful, but once we got up to the higher slope it was spectacular!! A huge cloud was hanging low over the city, and the sight of the late afternoon sun shining on the water, and the city stretching out around it, was just amazing. WOW! The mountain itself was beautiful too - snow-covered pine trees, occasional craggy rocks, and acres of beautiful white powder. Here are some photos taken from the slopes and the chairlift this afternoon...



And here's a video taken from the chairlift...

The biggest drama of the day was my stack as we got off the chairlift just before starting what I'd already decided would be my final run. I'm not sure why I fell (and this certainly won't help my fear of disembarking chairlifts), but with my left foot out of its bindings, my right leg came over the top in such a way that I felt this great strain in my right knee as it fought to not be twisted around backwards with the board attached. It hurt a lot!

A nice Ski Patrol guy (Roger) happened to be close behind us on the chairlift, so was there instantly to help me out of the way, inspect my knee, and offer to arrange transport back down the mountain if needed. However, the pain quickly diminished, and after a brief rest I was able to snowboard carefully back down to the lodge, where I called it a day. And sent Ben off to do a few more runs, finally unhindered by me!! I've only had a few little twinges the rest of the day, so - thankfully - it was just a close call! :)

Anyway, that was our first day up the mountain - there should be a few more to come! :) Goodnight!