Ski trips: day 3

This winter, the mission is simple: 10 days, two novice skiers (snowboarder, in my case), one local ski area (Sunlight Mountain Resort). I’m committed to fulfilling my 10-day passes and recording the journey as I go.

Welcome to another entry in my 10-day snowboard diary. (If you’re interested, you can read about day one here and day two here.)

Here’s how the third day of 10 went for us.

Day three: 2/20/21

Like last time, we took a bit of a break between ski trips. A lot has been going on; my parents have visited us, we had our neighbors come over to watch the super bowl, we had a home appraisal, and we chose to avoid Valentine’s Day/President’s Day weekend since we learned Sunlight would be packed with visitors—they sold out of day passes. Fantastic for them, less so for us as we try to still avoid others as much as possible.

However, we wanted to return and chose to do so this Saturday, when the temps were fairly high and our calendar extremely blank. Chad wanted us to try to get there right at 9 a.m., to make sure that we stay ahead of the Ski Spree and Saturday crowds and secure a coveted parking spot.

Back in business

Everything went great for us. Day three was like a dream: a great parking spot, a very quick car unload (putting on our boots was fast and efficient), there was no one in line at the lift, we squeezed in two full runs before other skiers were really around, the sun was out and skies were blue, two people complimented my snow pants, and everything felt easy.

On the slopes

Things keep getting better and better on the slopes. We did one warm up run (Tercero Lift), then moved on quickly to the Primo Lift, where many unexplored blue runs (medium difficulty) live. We did my favorite Ute (a green) at first, followed by Ferret’s Hollow (a truly perfect run), Beaujolais, and then Ferret’s Hollow one last time.

I had my board waxed a week or so ago, and that made the biggest difference. I was gliding. On the cat walks and hilly parts that were giving me grief every other time, I made it through with little to no issue. (Chad pulled me out of one catwalk with very little effort and I was good to go! So nice.)

As we were heading up to do Beaujolais, the lift stopped unexpectedly. And stayed still. Though the lift stops every now and then for brief periods (usually when someone falls, ensuring that no one crashes into them), this was a monster of a wait—probably 20 or 25 minutes. Also, this lift is bare-bones, nothing fancy: there’s no bar, no support, just a two-person metal seat. My board was killing me. My right foot was definitely numb by the end of the wait, but we were in good spirits regardless. This run was also much harder than we anticipated, with moguls (crazy bumps everywhere) that we were able to crush with several breaks.

Later on during our last run, I felt significantly more tired and weak and fell randomly getting off the lift (oops) and again later on Ferret’s Hollow when I caught the edge of my board and tumbled quite a few times. It hurt, a lot. I’m still sore from it. I took several breaks to get myself down the mountain (my calves were especially killing me), but even then I was still feeling as though the day was a major success.

Improvements

The main improvement on my end (other than the shocking difference that a waxed board makes) was my stamina. I was really proud of myself and noticed high energy levels for longer. It’s cool to see a tangible area of growth, even when ski trips have been spread out. We skied for about 4 solid hours, with more runs than before.

I hope to keep moving forward! More runs, more endurance to last longer, a little looser fit on my pants, more confidence as I go.