Category : Books-Non-Fiction

Sub Category : Biography

December 2009




       Click, click, click, click, click, click
       The sound repeats with each tightening crank of my hand until my boot is nice and secure. I stand up halfway, bending my knees while looking out ahead of me. The mountainous landscape takes me away, like being thrown into another world, right out of a Tolkien novel. The white sea beneath me reflects the beaming sun making it look as if it had rained millions of tiny diamonds. My heart flutters while I look down the snowy terrain. This was the main reason I agreed to come to Washington, to have this chance to do something I hadn’t done in years. 
       I lean back on my left leg, lift my right foot and quickly shift it ninety degrees to the left in a hopping motion, pointing the board down the hill and ride away. I left my headphones in my pocket for the first run, wanting to hear my board carve back and forth through the creamy snow. 
       The powder is fresh and soft, meaning it snowed last night. We hadn’t left early enough to make first tracks, but there’s still plenty of untouched terrain where I make my marks. There is honestly nothing better than this.  
      I haul ass down the hill, making sharp cuts back and forth, avoiding other people. I had to show my house I wasn’t bullshitting when I told them I could board. About halfway down I look over and recognize a few of the guys on the shorter run. With a slight bend in the knees, I rotate my legs in a quick, sharp turn on the left edge of the board, skidding into a stop. 
      They’re on the bunny hill?
      I pull my goggles up over my eyes and see one of them slam face down onto ice. 
      Ouch. I cringe. What! I thought they could board? It doesn’t look like it. With a push off my back foot, I shift my board in the air back down towards the bottom and take off again, shaking my head. 
      I see a mini-terrain park towards the bottom of the hill with boxes, rails, and kickers, or jumps. I come up and hit as many as I can on this run. There’s two trails I can take: one going to the chairlift going back up to where I was, or one heading to the bunny hill loft. I have to decide fast. 
       


Ross stands up with his board flat and glides down at a slow pace. It looks as if he has it, but as he gains more speed, he turns his bored and edges on his heels, ass hitting snow. He turns his head around looking up at us. The bug-eyed goggles cover most of his face. All I can see is an ear-to-eat grin. I could feel his excited sense of accomplishment which makes me smile back. 
      “Hell yeah, man! What happened though?” I yell. 
      “I think I figured it out. Let me try again.” I can barely make out his faint voice. 
      “Remember what I told you bud: Just point your board down the mountain and go!” 
      When I told him this before, I meant it to be sarcasm, but he took it literally. He pointed his board straight down and after a few falls; he carved back and forth. I could feel his joy, but my own feelings overpowered it. I was so happy and proud. I had taught someone to snowboard. 
       Jimmy and Pete were the other two who couldn’t quite get it down. They would need more work. Except I didn’t think Pete would ever get it down. His heart wasn’t in it. He would leave for Christmas break, they all would and come back after a week, but not Pete. He wasn’t coming back. 


Driving to the ski hill once, and sometimes twice, a week, I had everyone boarding. We even got to snowboard at night, which I had never done before. There were lights up and down most of the runs that gave off enough light for us to shred it up in the dark where I thrived. 


       After the first day of boarding, we came back to the house and had dinner before our daily check-in meeting. Everyone spoke of how much fun they had. I had a blast, but my muscles were aching in agony. They would get used to it though. It was a good pain. 
      Unexpectedly, when it was Tammy’s (one of the woman life coaches) time to speak, she looked at me…


      Tammy turns to look at me. Immediately, my heartbeat quickens its pace. Before she says anything, my mind races through every single thing I did today, making sure I did nothing wrong that will put me outside tonight. I can’t think of anything. So what could she want to say?
      “I want to praise our newest member, J, here. Today was his first day to go snowboarding, and he had told me before that he’s had a lot of experience and was really looking forward to it.” She pauses, “But instead of running off with the other guys who can also ride, he stuck around all day to help out the ones who didn’t. And I think that shows what a good, caring person he is.”
      My heart drops. I look down at the ground. Receiving compliments is not a comforting thing for me. But I look back up at Tammy, who is still smiling at me. That’s when I think, Tammy is kind of… hot.