snowboarding like a surfer

yesterday was the first snowboarding trip of this year that i've been on (and the second of my season.) i know wachusett is no whistler or even loon but it felt good to dust off the snowboard and hit the slopes really hard. i've owned it since freshman year, which was like november 2001, making my palmer and sims strap in bindings 7 years old. that's probably older than your little brother or sister. through all the years i've accumulated quite a set of scratches and dings (including the one time i set up a snowboard ramp on my driveway in NC, using up all the snow in the yard for a 1/2 foot jump onto the concrete.)





we had a huge group yesterday that included both some beginners who learned super fast, and a bunch of more experienced snowboarders and skiiers. the bunny lift on the green trail was the slowest piece of crap ever...the redeeming qualities of that slope were just that there were a few small jump ramps in the end, and that we get to spend quality time laughing at han and rene screaming down the slope.



Han right before impact

on the last few runs we bombed down the hill in order to catch the last ski lift. at this point, the ATS crew had joined us so we were like 20 people coming down the mountain like a horde of invading mongolians on yetis. then we'd all stop at the next slope, but the moment everyone got there we'd jump up and go again. it was highly satisfying just zipping through the moguls...oh wait, the moguls were hard on the knees and the ass. but the way i had to cut through them made chsueh describe my snowboarding as "you snowboard like a surfer." i'll take that as a compliment, since my surfing is nowhere nearly like a surfer.





i also found that my camera phone takes really nice pictures. much more than i expected, and probably much better in yesterday's lighting conditions (instead of the dark ones in paul's house while drinking sake bombs). there was one really scenic view that i couldn't quite capture on it because there's no good zoom or landscape mode, but if you look at the state of my phone (i finally remembered to tape the battery to keep it from falling out) it's amazing it still works.

thanks to rene and jordan for helping organize the trip, ziyan for visiting boston and feeding me sandwich balls, chris and arpun for making my trips to phi sig worth it, han for taking the leap and going on the blue, john wong and jackie for making skiing cool in my eyes, christine for playing phone tag on the slopes and the walnuts, alicia for ordering the much needed sangria, and auggie for having ridiculous hat hair.