I was a whole hour behind what I had planned. I had pumpkin soup for breakfast. I stopped in Yolo fruit stand to take a break from the road. I ate spanakopita from yesterday. 2nd stop was Placerville gas station, the station was completely iced over, super hazard for driving actually. I don’t think I will choose to stop here again. The last 50 miles from Placerville into South Tahoe Nevada line was snow and ice. No chains advised. I pulled into McDonald’s in South Tahoe for another pee break and to just get off the road from driving. It took me a total of 6 hours to get to Heavenly Ski Park. The mountain climb took a lot longer than Map Quest said it would. This is my first time at Heavenly. I didn’t know where to park. I found myself excited, nervous, and happy to drive myself here, it was an adventure and an accomplishment.
I took the tram up the bunny slope and I freaked out. What if I don’t remember my one and only snowboard lesson of which I didn’t get much out of from 6 months ago. What if I fall? What if I can’t finish the bunny run? What if? What ifs? Seeing people getting shuttled out every five minutes off the mountain from injuries didn’t help either. I sat on the snow for awhile. I was just freaking out.
I could not navigate right or left. I couldn’t stop. I fell in all directions. I quickly realized I forgot to stretch and it was already too late. I quickly became tired and I haven’t even gotten on a ski lift yet. Everything felt sore, hard, exhausting and with each fall, each break, old pains was break up. I finally made it to the bunny slope lift.
Sitting on the chair lift I wondered when did I get so scared of everything? What happened to my courage? What happened to my strength? What happened to excitement? What happened to fun? Where did I disappear to? This is not the fault of aging!
Second run, I discovered I can zig zag to the right. I wondered if I was a goofy foot. I was tired. My quads burned. I fall in order to stop. This is the only way I know how to stop. I laid on the snow to look at the sky and snow in the trees. Heavenly is beautiful. The lifts are all high above so the view is the Tahoe Lake, very amazing. I don’t feel like I need to walk on the lake. This beauty here I am surrounded in is amazing. I am glad I have a season pass here. I really just bought the pass on a whim, an expensive whim. It was so Laura can use the four $50 buddy passes. That comes with this. Interesting how it all turned out. I didn’t want to spend so much money on a season pass and was hoping she would get the season pass and I would use her buddy pass. I ended up getting it so a decision could be made and so I can move forward with my life. Now that I have seen this place, I have no regret, it’s one of the best decisions I have made, especially on a whim. I am finding myself the true benefactor of that scenario. Some things, how it is done increases or decreases stress. Without a season pass, I would feel like I am wasting $80 day pass because I can’t ride my snowboard down a very short bunny slope that currently just feels like trying to get to the moon right now. Or that I drove too slow and lost time on the slope or took too many much needed exhaustion breaks etc… all these things I beat myself up over. That a pampering reward rejuvenating trip ends up being a vehicle for punishment. With a season pass, the outlook is totally different. I have enjoyed every part of this journey.
In one of my many breaks, I would sit and watch the lessons people take with instructors here and I see why it costs so much here. You really get the attention and learn to perfect something. It’s worth getting a lesson here.
It takes me one hour to make it down the tiny bunny slope. I enjoyed every part of it, no rush, not about speed or how many times on the lift but just a little bit of skill accomplishment on the board. I hope and dream that at the end of this season, that I can do an “S” heel and toe turn.
I did not manage to stand once off the lift today, I fell off each one. The line for the bunny slope was long. I don’t wish to progress on to another lift until I can stand and ride when disembarking the lift and do “S” rides, or be able to go down the tiny bunny slope without stopping or falling at all. My body muscles are sore from the workout and the falls. My lungs love the air and all the workout, they are happy. The last time they were this happy was in the summer hiking mountains in the heat.
My current capacity is 4 hours on the slope. The lifts close at 4pm. I met Jess from Ukiah working on the mountain with $8.75 per hour, splitting rent with 2 other friends on an apartment off Ski Run.
While walking towards the car in the lot, fatigued, inexperienced, I did not recognize and register ice, so I walked on ice and fell on my bum, my right hand broke the fall along with my board. It would have been a head smashing fall and for sure I would have cracked my head open. This was a good warning for ice on wheels. I don’t think anything is broken. I hope not. I think I will have to thank my fat cells for the cushion in protecting my tail bone and hip.
I drove to a Mexican place and had beans. I drove to check in at a so called Inn and Lodge but it’s really a motel. I brought my own sheets and a sleeping bag to sleep in. The place is clean and old, including the sheets and pillows, they are yellow from aging. It has a microwave but no DVD player. I turned the heat up to 80, the restroom does not have a heater. It took a whole hour to go from 50 to 80 degree in the room. The TV is fuzzy and I brought 3 DVDs to watch but there is no DVD player with the TV. Indian family runs this place. It is okay for overnight.
I was soaked from falling. Snow got into my back, stuck on my clothes and melted at the end on the tram and the car. I was shivering for a few hours from wearing wet clothes. I see the value of extra set of clothing. This will get on to my list. Super tired, it’s been a long day.
