The last week or so has been spent either falling over spectacularly on huge glaciers or getting employed. So I now have a job and a painful neck/back combo. Successful week!
The most spectacular crash came last week. Blackcomb, the mountain opposite Whistler, opened last Thursday. Having crawled out of bed at about midday, Nick and I met Joe and Jim on the mountain and hiked round to a huge glacier, which was covered in powder about a metre thick. Perfect snowboarding conditions, except I'm actually useless when it comes to riding powder. I set off down the hill behind the rest, with Jim taking photos from the bottom. I was speeding down, wind in my hair, looking every bit the pro snowboarder.
I was about half way down the glacier when I realised I might be going a touch too fast, and might need to put a turn or two in. It was at this point I learned two things: one, that turning in powder is not the same as turning on a groomed slope and two, that landing on your neck is fairly painful. All I saw when I bailed was the sky, quickly followed by a lot of snow. According to the lads, who had prime viewing position at the bottom of the slope, I suddenly turned into a cloud of snow whilst two small objects (later revealed to be my hat and goggles) flew about five metres ahead of me.
Luckily, I am not crippled and have been riding several times since. I think I might spend a bit more time improving my technique before I plunge headfirst into the unknown again.
In more positive news, someone made the brave decision to hire me. I now work at the Billabong shop in Whistler Village, which seems like a good job. There are a bunch of fun people working there, and they sell Billabong, Element and Von Zipper gear, which is all very nice (and all available to me at a cheeky 40% discount). They're also very into their brand philosophies - Element, for example, is all about recycling, renewing and helping the earth - which gives me something to talk to customers about other than how sick, sweet or rad their new hat is.
I plan to spend the next week or so improving my riding and taking advantage of the free pizza at Creek Bread just down the road. Joe, who is taking his instructor course at the moment, has been telling me how bad my technique is (probably explains the glacier incident). Apparently your stance should be fairly upright and relaxed - a bit like a chimpanzee, say. Mine, on the other hand, is hunched over like an orangutan. The girls are taking a camera out tomorrow, so there might be a video to prove that soon.
Today's wisdom: Less King Louie, more Curious George.
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