You know, it’s rather weird. I always have the feeling that I’m in a rush. No matter what seems to be going on, I’m always running late. I will be the one that will be late to my own funeral, probably because I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve at least picked up something though that I take my time with.
Living in Duluth for 24 years, I finally decided it was time for me to actually find something I like to do outside. I’ve always wanted to try snowboarding so I opted to start paying for health insurance and to find something to enjoy in the winter. Learning how to snowboard had to be the most frustrating experience of my life. One second you’re up on your board, the next you’re flat on your back or worse wondering how the hell that just happened. This was how I spent my first day on the bunny hill at Spirit Mountain. I managed to go down the main hill once which was an hour long debacle of my feet cramping up and me eating lots of fake snow. Teaching yourself to put all your weight on your front foot and just rely on that is kind of opposite of human nature. I love mental challenges and snowboarding was definitely this. Actually I’ve started to think of snowboarding by myself as being somewhat spiritual.
I know you’re probably thinking what’s so damn spiritual about snowboarding. No I’m not going to go declare my soul to the mountain gods or anything of the sort. Snowboarding is one of the few ways I can get away from everything in my life. Lots of people resort to alcohol when they want to forget or get away from it all. I can’t stand the thought of not having full control over my body though. People do so many things that are stupid while drunk and I refuse to let myself use that as an excuse.
I’m not the best snowboarder by far. In fact I don’t even know if I’d say I’m decent. I’ve been out almost 10 times and still fall somewhat regularly. It’s fairly common with snowboarding but I’m also not really pushing myself to take jumps and what not. One thing I do know about snowboarding though is when I’m at the top of the hill strapping in, I’m thinking about one thing, how I’ll get to the bottom. Especially at Spirit Mountain there are a ton of different ways to reach the bottom. Some are more challenging than others so based upon my physical stamina I can usually decide where I want to go. Carving around corners is truly an exhilarating experience because the faster you go, the easier it is. Of course the downside is the faster you’re going, if you make a mistake, the longer you’re going to try to collect yourself. I bruised my ribs this year, going to fast and catching the toe-side edge. It hurt to breathe for a week as well as laugh or cough. I never knew your ribs were affected by so many things.
Last weekend I went out twice and I think the best time I had was when everyone left Saturday and I was at the hill for about 2 hours by myself. No distractions, nothing emotional bothering me, not waiting for anyone, or trying to catch up. Just me and the mountain. Sure going up the lift I start to remember the rest of the world. It’s no different than when I’m out driving in the summer late at night. They’re both my method of escaping the real world. Although rather than saying escaping I’d prefer to say taking a time out to collect myself so the next thing.
That’s awesome you have a way to escape like that bro. For me at school, I don’t have many places I can go besides my room and the library to be alone. I’d totally agree with you that it’s needed and I bet I’ll find myself in the driver’s seat, shifting gears on a warm summer night. Probably many times that will happen this year.