Needless to say, when I learned that they have adaptive snowboarding, I wanted to do it. I met someone while in blind rehab who, since then, has tried to get me out to a certain camp in Breckenridge Colorado put on by the United States Association of Blind Athletes. USAVA teams up with the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center and they take a group of blindies skiing and snowboarding. Knowing that I was going to be retiring this month last year I told Jesse I was going no matter what and I signed up.
Well a week ago I got back from this camp and I had the time of my life! I flew out Thursday and was able to see my sister and brother-in-law in Denver before heading to the lodge in Breckenridge. I slept in a small room with five other guys. Four of us on bunk beds, and for some reason, the other person got a king size bed to himself. I learned later that this isn't his first time there so he must have been ready to snag that bed as soon as he got there.
Anyway, Friday was our first day on the slopes. I had two guides with me. One would snowboard or ski behind me and shout directions and the other would be behind her watching back up the hill for any people who are on a crash course with us.
We went down the bunny hill twice and I knew I needed more speed and room if I was going to get it so we headed to the big lift. Any snowboarder will tell you that after the summer it takes a run or two to get back into the groove and it was the same for me. I kept telling people that it had been about four years since I had been on a board and I just needed a little practice and I would be good to go. Honestly, the only difference is that I'm blind now. How much harder can it be?
It turns out that it not different at all. Once I got familiar with the board and remembered the motions of controlling it I was carving my way down the slopes again. and the feeling is just plain amazing…and exhausting. My legs were feeling it for sure after the end of the second day.
It took me most of the first day to figure out how to get from my heel to my toe edge and as a result my right butt cheek and right elbow were sore from landing on them over and over. By the end of day one I had successfully linked together almost 10 turns. My guide would just travel behind me and cue me when I needed to transition from toe to heel and heel back to toe. By the end of the day I was exhausted and sore but eager or the next day when I would be refreshed and ready to really get going!
The next day we woke up to about six inches of new snow which continued to fall the entire day. The morning was awesome and I really started to get the hang of the board and was just cruising. They have a lift that only goes about half way up the hill that I made it all the way down without falling a single time. We had to stop three or four times because of some crazy sighted people, you guys know how those people are, but the day was amazing! I was really worried that I wouldn't like snowboarding because I wouldn't be as good as I was before but the feeling is exactly the same and it was a blast!
The third day was cross country skiing and a biathlon of sorts in the afternoon. I had never been on skis before but I'm fairly athletic so I was pretty confident. I was a little concerned that my feet now had the ability to go different directions but fortunately they never did. My poor guide was a sweet older lady who in her younger years would, without a doubt, kick my rear at skiing but age has it's limitations for sure. Once I got the hang of it I was running her ragged around the course and she would keep reminding me that I didn't need to go fast all the time. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.
The afternoon was a little competition and they split us into four teams of three. One person would ski 1 kilometer then shoot five shots on the gun after which they would tag the second person who would do the same. Everyone did this twice and then we would total up the points and see who won.
The night before we got to try out the gun system. We've written about it before and if you've been reading for a while you've seen the pictures. It's the system where the shooter wears the headphones and listens to audible tones to figure out where the target is.
Most of the people in this camp hadn't shot at all so already I had an advantage. The usual scores were around 12 or so. Some were higher, some were lower. When I shot hear the end I got 43 out of the possible 50 and everyone wanted me on their team ha ha.
Long story short my team won the race by something like 20 or 25 points and one of the leaders said that I should consider moving closer to the snow and actually train for competition. If it were possible to pluck an entire home up off the foundation and put it down somewhere else maybe I would consider…but I'm not leaving this home. Sorry.
So, after three exhausting days in the snow I came home to my 70 degree weather feeling refreshed and ready to take on the week which was good since we had to get the house ready for the dedication, get ourselves ready for the retirement ceremony, and a little BBQ on Saturday. Things were hectic to say the least but fortunately we had my parents and a couple sisters come into town as well as Jesse's mom so we had plenty of help
I will be posting those stories sooner or later so check back! Someone will also be posting pictures sooner or later about all of this stuff so watch out for them.
God bless!
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