Watch Out, Shaun White!

I have never skied or snowboarded in my life.  I hate snow.  I’m clumsy on pavement so my clumsiness  is 10x worse on slippery surfaces.   These factors made my snowboarding day quite interesting.  Steve and I signed up for a full day of lessons at Coronet Peak.  Our instructor was a very sweet 26 year old Kiwi who has been snowboarding for over 10 years.  She was very patient and extremely helpful.  20 minutes into our lesson, I realized snowboarding wasn’t for me.  I had fallen 3 times.  One fall happened as I was just standing still listening to instructions.  Everything about snowboarding just seemed hard.  Even carrying the board was hard because it’s such an awkward thing to walk around with because it’s not easy to grip.  I fell just walking with the board.  After my 3 falls in 20 minutes, I took of the bindings, I took off my gloves, I took off my helmet and goggles and said I was done.  Steve came over to me and said “You can’t quit.  I really want you to hang in there until lunch time.”  We still had 2.5 hours until lunch time.  I felt like I was in gym class all over again.  Counting down the minutes until class was over.  I started getting moody with Steve and said, “you don’t understand how difficult this is for me.  I’m going to leave and do my long run.”  Again, Steve pleaded with me to hang in there.  I responded with, “You don’t know what it’s like to be in my shoes.  I’m not good at this type of stuff.  You know I find these experiences dreadful.  Just because you like it doesn’t mean I have to.  You can totally stay here all day.  I won’t be mad. I just want to leave.”  Keep in mind, Steve is doing great throughout the whole lesson. The teacher said, “Wow, Steve.  You’re a quick learner.”  He had already gone down all the practice hills without falling.  Once again, Steve pleaded with me to give it another shot.  So I told him “I will stick it out but I will be hating every minute of it.”  Awkward silence as I strapped myself back into the snowboard and went back to the instructor.

The instructor showed me a few other skills and I started doing them with her as she would hold my hands so that I didn’t fall.   There was a time when she let go of my hands and I slowly went down the hill and fell.  Steve was at the top of the hill and screamed, “Are you okay?  I’m coming down right now to help you get up!!”  I was my bratty self and screamed back “Don’t bother.  I’m fine.”  The truth is that I could’ve used his help.   It’s hard as shit to get up from these falls when your stupid snowboard is attached to your feet.   I got myself up and made my way back to the top of the practice hill.  I started going down again. This time by myself. I was able to go about 50 feet without falling. Steve started cheering for me,  “Yay!!  You’re doing a great job, Nance!!!”  I pretended that I wasn’t having fun because I was still playing the “I’m hating every minute of this” role.  I must admit that I loved going down that hill.   By the time I finished the hill, it was time for lunch. 

At lunch, I told Steve I was sorry for being mean to him.  When I’m mean to Steve, I feel bad soon after I unleash my venom because I know he is only trying to help and I know he means well.  I also hate to see his face when I snap at him with my mean spirited ways because I can tell it hurts his feelings.   I always own up to my mean ways and apologize.  After my apology, he responded with, “Nancy, it’s okay.  I know it’s really scary to try something new.  The great thing is that you didn’t quit today.  You know why?  Because you have a lot of courage.  Your courage made you hang in there. I’m so proud of you.”  The pep talk was very sweet but also seemed like something out of the final minutes of a Full House episode when Uncle Jesse is trying to teach DJ a lesson.   Regardless, I always appreciate the love and support from Steve.  After lunch we went back for the 2^nd half of the lesson.   The instructor worked with me to refine the basics that I learned in the morning and she showed Steve new tricks that he could build on from his earlier lesson. 

At the end of the day, I’m glad I tried snowboarding. I have no urgency to do it again anytime soon.  I only made it down the hill 2x without falling and even those 2 times were on mini hills less than 70 feet long.   Steve on the other hand……advanced from the practice hills to the intermediate hills and then he took on all the advanced hills!!!  It’s official.  My husband is a snowboarder.