Night time boarding at Alpental

Last night I went up to Alpental for some night time boarding, and it was awesome! There's really only one beginner area there, but it was great because I had the entire run and lift pretty much to myself all night. That was a good thing because I managed to eat shit off the lift every time. At least I didn't need to worry about anyone piling into me. The lift was the fastest one there and the exit ramp was steep. I just couldn't stick it. I added a stomp pad to my board today so we'll see if that helps next time.

The new board rocks! It's so much lighter and easier to turn than a rental board, though the first time I hopped on I nearly had a heart attack because it's so much faster. I ended up doing maybe 6-8 runs last night and finally started getting the hang of toe-side turns. I think I need one more good practice day to get some more confidence and then I might be ready for some bigger runs.

It's amazing how tired I get boarding. I think I could have done more but my body was too sore from crashing off the lift so many times that I finally had to call it a night. I watched Ben and Eric do a few runs, then we hit the lounge for some beer. After two beers I decided I would cruise over a little mini bump to work up to trying a jump, and it was a mistake. I got off balance rolling over the bump, caught my heel edge, and smacked down pretty hard. I got it the next two times but I think I'll hold off on jumps for a bit. I have zero confidence in my ability to catch even 1" of air :) Eric landed a pretty sweet one that was a couple of feet. I'm making that my goal by the end of the season.

I have a pretty nice soon-to-be-a-nasty-bruise thing on my thigh and my butt is pretty sore. Originally I had planned to go back during the day today, but I took the day off and will probably head back out tomorrow instead. Good times!!

Found this awesome YouTube video today.