Finally, Heaven

"The first day will be Hell. The second day will be Purgatory. And the Third day, Heaven." Words said to me by a really good snowboarder. As you know I took up snowboarding this year. Why not take up a sport at forty that kids start when they are, well, kids? I've also had THIS said to me more than once, "With all your surfing and skateboarding background, it should be a cinch." After two trips up to the local mountains and driving home without a muscle that wasn't sore, I was getting doubtful. I went to Bear Mountain for my third and hopefully, 'Heaven' trip. Turns out something just clicked and I didn't fall one time! After eating shit time and time again, I finally wasn't the worst guy on the hill. I was actually maneuvering between a bunch of the worst guys on the hill. We're still talking intermediate runs here, but the feeling is really addictive. Maybe a better feeling than surfing as of late, I know, BLASPHEMY! right? It is probably just a new feeling, rather than a better one, and the sense of accomplishment is probably clouding my perception, but I have never rode a wave for over three minutes and done fifty turns on a wave. Maybe it was the actual snow that blanketed the slopes this week, as opposed to the man made stuff. I don't know or care. I have been on a high all day. I feel like a kid again.......and old ass, bruised and battered, Advil chomping kid.

Yeah, it was a pretty nice day

Powdah!

Blue skies and lots of snow

I knew nobody would believe I completed a full run without falling on my ass, head, knees, shoulders, or hips, so I filmed a run with my handheld camera. If you get motion sickness, you might want to skip the video (Mom). I was amped, to say the least, and cinematography suffered from fear of falling. It'll get better. But finally, a little bit of Heaven.

834 0788 from Sean Murphy on Vimeo.