Pain

Got my skis waxed the other day, something that I’d been meaning to do for the last ages, but had been putting it off a) because it costs anywhere between 10-20€ to get them done properly – which seeing it in writing doesn’t seem like that much, but that could equate to 2-3 days on the road once I get back to travelling – and b) because I wasn’t entirely sure how much difference it would make to the skis.  In the end I got a good deal on the whole thing through a friend of a friend who also sharpened the edges for me.

Did it make a difference?  Hell yes.  Didn’t get to go out on them until Monday morning before work at 12, and moving around was so much easier, especially on the flat where previously I struggled to move forward as I grated my dried out ski’s across the snow.  Generally speaking a skier should have a lot easier time on the flat than a snowboarder should as they have their poles to push themselves along with, as well as skating along, pushing forward on one ski then the other to pick up some speed.  So when I was struggling to keep up with all the boarders I should have been thinking that something was wrong.  Now I was burning ahead and loving it.

Monday morning wasn’t an especially fantastic morning snow-wise.  In fact it hadn’t really snowed for two days, and on top of that Sunday had been quite sunny, melting the surface layers of snow which then froze overnight.  The resulting iciness made it less fun to go between the trees, where you can usually find powder snow if there is any to be found, but which was now tracked out, bumpy and unforgiving.  So we hit the snow park.

Up to this time I had been cautiously(ish) introducing myself to the park, doing a few jumps.  Nothing fancy, just trying to go straight over them, land with my skis underneath me and hopefully not end up in a tangled mess.  I’d been doing alright, and although I had fallen a few times I had avoided injury.  So I thought nothing of giving it a go today.

What I hadn’t realised was quite how much the waxing would influence speed I could build up on the short run up to the jump.  It was only as I was going up the ramp, really, that I thought I might be in a bit of trouble.

Now, I haven’t seen many professional skiers up close, but from what I’ve gleaned from the videos they play on a loop in most of the bars around here is that your ass shouldn’t stick out and your skis shouldn’t be pointing towards the sky, but more in line with the down ramp at the other side of the jump.  Waving your arms in mad circles (“rolling down the windows” as it’s been dubbed) isn’t very slick either.  Also I’m pretty sure the pros don’t scream “shitshitshit” as they shoot through the air. 

My skis did land first, just at the end of the down-ramp which I had thought I was going to overshoot altogether, but as I was leaning too far back I ended up slapping myself off the ice in a rapid lower-back, upper-back, head, arms combo.  It was one of the times where I was really grateful that I’d listened to the advice I'd been given and invested in a helmet at the start of the year.  Didn’t feel fantastic after it, but I did walk away, after fetching my ski pole which had come off somewhere between my first and second bounce.

Stayed out a while longer, and tried to do a box (like a rail, but much wider) which I a few weeks before I'd worked at sliding along sideways, but once again I failed to realise how much faster I would be going into it and ended up with both skis flying out from underneath me and skidding on my side all the way to the end.  Not my smoothest day at the park ever it must be said.

Afterwards I was a bit stiff and sore, and a bit stiffer and sorer yesterday, with the most tender parts being my lower legs with significant bruising (not visibly but it’s there, believe me) on my shins from the boots.  Went to bed last night at about 1am (after our sad elimination from the darts tournament, but more on that later) and then woke at 3:30 to a dull but insistent aching in my lower back and legs which kept me awake for an hour before I decided bed wasn’t getting me anywhere, so I might as well come down and do something productive.  So here we are.  It seems to have subsided a bit now, but I’m going to pass on the morning’s skiing that I had planned, which is particularly gutting as it has been puking down with beautiful fresh pow all night.  I might try to get back to sleep before I have to work at three.

As for darts, The Soaring Arrows, our team which had made its way to the semi-finals played our last game of the league yesterday after battling it out for the last thirteen or so weeks.  We threw some pretty amazing darts over the last few weeks, guys, and pulled some wins out of nowhere, clawing our way back from seemingly impossible point differences, smashing bullseyes and our seemingly unstoppable run of paralysers was great while it lasted.  Cheers.  And best of luck to Patong Dart Show in their match against D.A.R.T. tonight.

That’s all from me for now, although here is a video of one of my first jumps which I was pretty proud of although it's nothing really spectacular, sadly I didn’t get to immortalise my last one, but what can you do.  Sorry for the long intro as well.

Also the lastest KMonster blog is up on youtube.  He’s doing backflips now.  Epic.