Rm w/a Vu(134)
Chuckling, Greyston stands up and steps onto his board with his left foot, attaching his own leash to his boot, and then he demonstrates how to push off as though we’re on skateboards, and we head toward the lift. I’m a little nervous waiting for the lift to approach, and I jump slightly when I feel it, but Greyston helps me out, and soon we’re on our way to the top of the beginner hill.
Once we’re clear of the lift, I follow Greyston. We stop at the top of the hill and he instructs me to sit down with my board perpendicular to the hill. Once I’m seated, he helps me put my other boot into its binding, and then he shows me how to make sure they’re tight enough. My feet don’t move within the bindings, and they’re secure in my boots, so Greyston deems me ready to go and helps me up. After securing his other foot into his binding, he shows me how to apply pressure to my planted foot. He decides to practice this a few times in a stationary position at the top of the hill before we attempt to go down. Which is fine by me.
“Okay,” he says, standing next to me. “You want to bend your knees and keep your back straight so that you feel balanced, okay?”
“Uh huh,” I reply nervously, slowly doing as he instructs and being sure not to go down the hill just yet. “Like this?”
“Good,” he says, “but make sure you’re not leaning your body when applying pressure.” He must recognize my confusion, so he elaborates. “Pretend you’re squashing a bug under your foot.”
“Ew,” I declare quietly, but do as he suggests.
“That’s it. Just like that. Now lean back a little…but not too much, or you’ll wind up on your ass.” He watches me, smiling wide. I feel unsteady, but I’m able to right myself before I fall. “Good. Good,” he praises. “Alternating from heel to toe is called carving. It’s a little more advanced, so we should just stick to riding your heel until you’re confident on your board.”
Beaming, I look up at Greyston, and he smiles back. “Okay, so we’re going to try the hill.” I nod, my heart hammering nervously. “Remember, I want you to ride your heel edge first, okay? It’ll act kind of like a snowplow and give you a feel for the board going slow so you can get used to it. Think you can do that?”
I visualize it in my head, and try leaning back on my board a little to see what it might feel like. “Yeah. Let’s do this.”
Greyston leads us forward a little, and then turns to me. “Steady and slow, all right?” I nod. “And, for whatever reason, if you feel like you’re about to bite it, lean back—not forward. It feels a hell of a lot better to fall on your ass than it does your face.”
Visions of the giant snowball replay in my mind, and I agree. “Got it.”
Greyston urges me to push off, and I do, going as slow as possible while he follows. He stays close, watching as I struggle to keep my board from pointing straight down the hill. Sure, it’s a small hill, but I still don’t want to fly down it. That’s sure to end with me smacking into a tree, the wall of a building, or another human being.
I’d like to say that my first run is wipeout-free, but it isn’t. I fall flat on my ass about thirty seconds in when I zig instead of zag. Greyston’s right there to help me back up, and while I’m embarrassed, his constant assurance that I’m doing well helps to boost my confidence a little each time. I realize that wiping out is normal, but it bruises my pride as much as it does my tailbone.
Every run down the hill gets a little easier, and I find I wipe out less and less…until Greyston suggests I try carving. I start off slow, leaning back on my heel like before, and then I lean forward the way Greyston showed me before we went down the hill the first time. I make a mistake by leaning too far forward, and when I feel myself starting to fall forward, I over-correct, leaning too far back and toppling over so hard one of my boots comes loose from its binding.
Snow flies up next to me as Greyston stops abruptly, showing off a little. He helps me reattach my board and then offers me a hand up so we can keep going. He’s smiling from ear-to-ear, and, even though I’ve wiped out far more than I’d hoped, I have to admit that I’m having a blast. Even the cold isn’t bothering me much anymore.
We stay on the beginner hill for another hour—way more than Greyston probably ever bargained for—before I tell him I want to try a bigger hill. I’m sure if I’d asked him a half hour ago, he’d have been hesitant, but considering I’ve had less than a handful of wipeouts in that time, he’s pretty open to the idea. He’s sure to only take me to a trail I can handle, which isn’t much longer than this one, but it’s got a few more obstacles and rough patches that throw me off. I fall, but I’m not discouraged at all, and I even wave off Greyston’s offer to help me up, wanting to get back on my own feet.