Snowboarding

I went snowboarding at Donner Ski Ranch with Lawrence and Scott on Sunday. Although Lawrence and Scott usually ski, they've both gone snowboarding a handful of times. This was my second time snowboarding, my first being when the three of us went to Soda Springs last year.

I fell an inordinate number of times last year; but I learned a lot. I felt much more comfortable this time out. Although I still have problems making nice S-turns, I can control my speed and stop fairly well. I'm very pleased to note that I descended some blue runs without falling. In fact, I think that I can avoid falling most of the time on blues and greens if I'm really cautious. For the most part though, I preferred to attempt to improve--which necessitates some falling.

We started out on the on the fronside, beginning with the easy green runs and then moving over to the slightly harder, but still fairly easy, blues. Initially I was having some trouble getting off the chairlifts. After a few runs it was determined that although we had asked for the bindings on our boards to be set for regular riding, they were indeed configured goofy (unnatural, i.e. leading with the right foot). I rode much better after realigning my bindings for natural riding.

It began to rain as we descended for lunch. By the time we returned to the slopes, the rain had given way to hail. We spent the rest of the day on the backside amidst various forms of precipitation. And where there weren't many people at Donner to begin with, the backside was almost totally deserted. Towards the end, we had a bunch of runs entirely to ourselves.

It should also be noted that as it continued to snow, hail, and rain, a fair amount of powder was collecting. This made snowboarding more difficult, but aided in the construction of snowballs. As I, myself, was a victim of one of Lawrence's ride-by snoballing attacks, I have this advice to offer: beware unassuming grad students bearing snowballs.

After picking up dinner at Redrum Burger, we concluded our day by watching the San Jose Sharks' 3-0 victory over the Nashville Predators in game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Here are some pictures of the drive up into the clouds and down into the valley of snow-topped hills, followed by a Donner trail map and a picture of us afterward: