I love alliterations. Ever since my English teacher (Mr. Frank Farrell) in Jordan told me that alliterations do not have a place in written documents (or summat like that), I told myself that I will place as many alliterations as I can in ANY document I write… Take that you fool.
That out of the way, it was truly a wicked weekend with wind @ Mammoth Mountain. Our drive up was actually not too bad (ok, so we ran into traffic on the 5 FWY, but that's because there were accidents and all that crap on a Friday evening.) On Saturday morning, we arrived at the mountain “late” (e.g., 9AM as opposed to 8AM) but started off right away on the Broadway Express lift and down St. Moritz. It was an odd morning, however, as the sun was barely seen due to cloud coverage… It was quite gloomy actually and it made snowboarding a bit tricky because I have bad depth-perception and I couldn't see the bumps on the snow clearly, albeit the slopes were quite powdery. Iono if that sentence made any sense. I'll just proof-read tomorroz. Anyway, towards the afternoon was when it got really tricky — the winds were really intense and it was snowing! So picture, like, prolly 10+mph winds coming at you as you ride up the lift… scary eh? Now, try getting off the lift with stronger winds… Instead of sliding forward, we were being pushed back! (We = my sistahs and I). That's how wickedly powerful they were.
Short tangent: Ms. Irene M. is now a Level I Snowboarding graduate from the RaDragon School of Snowboarding™. YAY! Congratz, Irene!
k, so back to the wicked winds. Our last “big” run was down Broadway and visibility was literally 5 feet in front of you. The winds coupled with the powder being lifted off the ground was harsh and hurt your face. My sisters ended up “leafing” Broadway while I cautiously bombed down and waited for them in front of Main Lodge. Crazy crazy stuff. Thank goodness there weren't that many people on the slopes by that time…. Otherwise, I reckon there'd be another accident! Speaking of accidents… Earlier that Saturday, my sis and I witnessed a Ski Patrol group speeding down Broadway — one of the Ski Patrol dudes was giving CPR to this other dude on the toboggan! Scary! No wonder they kept screaming at people to “get out of the way!” I hope, however was being resuscitated is ok.
By stark contrast, snowboarding today was, for lack of a better term, glorious. The skies literally opened this morning to reveal the warm and smiling sun. We parked by the Stump Alley Express lift (by The Mill Cafe) and headed up to see clear blue skies, loverly powdery slopes and warm weather. Sun + Snow + Slopes = Perfect Snowboarding Day.
Anyway, I just realised that I've written quite a bit on my experience this weekend. I've yet to divulge my jumps! Yah, I returned to the “Family Fun Zone” by Sesame Street and was successful with all my tries… I didn't get on any rails or boxes, though, just bumps and small ramps. 🙂 /me was a happy camper.
Photos to be posted soon. I have loads of work to finish up this week, eeek! >_<
