Monday, January 22nd
Well after the generator fiasco, we woke up a bit chilly and in no mood to stove cook in the freezing snow. So, we decided to treat ourselves with a breakfast burrito and coffee at the Whole Foods half a mile away. It was nice sitting down to a warm meal in a warm building. Most of our time has been spent either driving the van, sleeping in the van, or on cold snow mountains. This was a nice change of pace. After the burritos were scarfed down, we headed to the base of Copper Mountain, just a short 15 minute drive away!
The process of getting dressed in the van for snowboarding has started to become an art form. However, living in the van for the past few weeks has reassured me that the world does in fact tend towards entropy. "Where are my goggles?" "Do you have any clean socks?" "Have you seen my keys?" These are a few of the things uttered by me to my travel partner this trip and I'm sure there will be more questions like this asked as our adventure continues.
Today was going to be a great day! Fresh powder, not too cold, not too sore. We get off the first lift and I see a little kicker at the top that I know I have to jump off. I do. "Yeah, today is going to be perfect!" This was the case for the next few runs...and then I got cocky.
I'm flying down the mountain and see a tree run that is calling my name. As soon as I duck into the trees I realize I am going far too fast. I couldn't turn fast enough and see a small tree that I'm about to have an informal meeting with. BANG! I make direct contact with it, hip and forearm first. I'm knocked down with my breath knocked out of me.
Shit! I can't catch my breathe. My forearm and hip hurt so much! I sit in the trees for a second and look around. I took out the tree! It was laying in the middle of the trail right behind me.
The following is my thought process during the next few minutes:
"Alright, I can breathe again. Great. My forearm hurts so bad. Is it broken? No, great! My hip/butt though? No? Great! My ribs alright? Cool. Am I really going to have ski patrol take me down? Let's strap back in and see if I can ride. Catalina is trying to find me, I should probably yell at her that I'm fine and that I just need a minute. I really need to get down this mountain before the adrenaline wears off. Yepp, starting to get a bit shaky. This could have ended horribly if my forearm wasn't protecting my ribs. Good thing I bought the extra insurance for Vermont 100. Yeah, I can ride down. This could've ended poorly. I'll be alright. I'm done for the day. Let's be thankful."
After making it down the mountain, I walked down to the van, assessed the damage again (just gnarly scratches and swelling), grabbed my computer to blog, and headed to the bar for $2 PBRs.
Today was not perfect, but I wasn't going to let one bad thing ruin the day. We stopped at Breckenridge brewery for a beer and ended up catching the end of the Djokovic/Chung tennis match then headed to Steamboat Springs for some happy hour Mexican food at Salt & Lime and bowling at Snow Bowl.
Catalina beat me every single game.
Be Careful and Run Wild (but not too wild)
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