Well, Sunday was the day that I agreed to go and try to snowboard ONE MORE TIME.  I was able to borrow a snowboard and bindings from a friend (thanks Misty!) so we didn’t have to spend extra money on rentals.  We woke up early Sunday morning and along with Tom, his daughters Katherine and Lindsey and our friend Anna headed to Sierra at Tahoe for the day.  Upon arrival, we got dressed in the parking lot and I worked on getting my boots on (not so easy of a task).  Once on, it was incredibly uncomfortable.  If you’ve never ski or snowboarded, then try bending your knees slightly and standing and walking like that for a couple hours.  Your calves, thighs and hamstrings start screaming after a few minutes.  I was walking slow and was the last one to get to the lodge.  I kept looking around and wondering why no one else looked miserable in their boots.  We tried loosening the boots so they weren’t so tight on my calves, it only helped a little bit.  

We found a small area near the lodge that was good for learning.  Anna, Lindsey and I strapped on our boards and were ready to learn. Lindsey seemed to pick it up really easy and not too long after was ready to get on the lift and try going down the hill.  Anna and I weren’t so eager.  Tate worked with us and while he and Tom said I was progressing and doing well.  I didn’t feel so confident. I had no idea what I was doing and if I was “doing it right” I didn’t MEAN TO.  I spent a lot of time crying because not only did I not know what I was doing, my toes were numb and I was just plain uncomfortable.  We took off the boots and removed the second pair of socks to relieve the pressure.  That helped for a little while but the toes just kept going numb.  I was even wearing a boots that were two sizes too big.  

I felt like I needed to continue trying to learn even though I wasn’t having any fun doing it otherwise I would be a quitter.  This only made me feel worse.  I tried one more time and finally gave up.  It was so hard to do, but I wasn’t going to progress and I was only getting more and more frustrated.  I guess snowboarding just isn’t for me.  

So, I took off my board, and walked back to the car to put it all away.  I tried to get a refund for my lift ticket (since I never used it) but they said no.  I got back to the car, put away the board and boots and put on more comfortable clothes.  By the time I got back Anna was ready to take a break from learning.  She was doing better than me.  We had a drink on the sun deck and overlooked the mountain and watched everyone come down.  After lunch, Anna gave the mountain a try and did pretty good although she too feels she won’t try snowboarding again, she’ll go back to skiing. 

I was glad to be on the way home at 4:00. 

For me, it was a wasted day.  I coulda been on the water wakeboarding.  It would have been a lot warmer.  And ya know what, even for people that don’t wakeboard, you can still go and hang out and have a good time and still be in the company of your friends and family.  Not so with ski or snowboarding. 

Click here to see the pics taken during the day.  Yahoo! Photos