Powneck.

Firstly, hello. Been a minute since I've had time lately to say hello here this week- busy at work and catching up with life on my "off " chemo week.

Next, the docs told me to wait until 08' to ride, and yesterday was my first trip to the mtns. Needless to say I was both giddy at finally getting back into it (and exercise in general), and nervous the pins and needles in my hands/feet/face brought on by cold (side effect from chemo) would make riding hard to deal with.

Well, success was had. Mere and I battled traffic and blowing snow friday night to get our butts up to Vail. Jules and Andy Perri had a condo and we crashed their couch (thanks perris!) and got up and hit the gondola on the earls. Vail has had more snow in the last month than most who've spent their lives there can remember- so you can imagine the conidtions up there: MEGA-UBER-SWEET. It had snowed every night this week and Friday was no different. There were moments Sat AM where i thought maybe it was just knee deep, but I think i was going way fast then and was floating up top, because when I really got after it and was pumping hard turns, there were moments where I thought my hips were dipping down under the fluff.

Powneck. Man, I was gettin' some powneck. Most call it a faceshot, but I like powneck. Not only is it funnier to say, but when you going and fast and just wrench a hard heelside turn and a huge cloud of pow just shoots up and slaps you in the face it's the best, and inevitably, snow shoots down your neck of your coat and finds some uncovered skin. When that happens and the cold on your neck gives you a little jolt, and if you weren't already doing it, you WILL yell: WHOOOOO-HOOOOOO! It's like some imbedded genetic code thing, you hear folks all over whooping and hollering- powder will do that to you. It's the euphoric bubbling up of pure joy when you link about 10+ untracked turns in deep snow that is constantly hitting you in the face b/c you are rocking it's world so thoroughly. What a heavenly feeling it is. Def worthy of a little primal scream.

Anyway, besides my face tingling in the wind, everything worked out well. Hands and feet were warm, and I just need to buy a facemask, and then I'm hoping pins/needles will not be a huge part of snowboarding for me. I'm SUPER encouraged by yesterday (my muscles were tired after 3+ hours of pow riding, but my stamina was still going strong) and cannot wait to hit the hill again. Mere and I are pumped. Stoked for our ski visits w/ folks this year- and really happy to be active again. MAN, am I sore today, tho.