iRide
Zaskoda’s Snowboarding Journal

I was doing some hard drive cleanup before running off to Thanksgiving dinner and I ran across an old video. Several of my recent posts have had subtle and not-so-subtle references to someone I like to call “My Surf Teacher” in this blog. The video was a montage I made of her learning to snowboard over the years.

Sharing life and experiences with this person for the last five years has been a blessing. Generally speaking, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a good life, good friends, a good job, and a good family. However, when I sit down in front of a dead bird with new friends tonight, I will thank the universe, most of all, for all the time I’ve gotten to spend with the star of this video:

Can you tell she’s a long boarder? She makes those long smooth carves. Maybe we’ll ride again some day. I hope so. For right now, I’m just asking the universe to give her peace of mind and a lots of joy. In fact, I’m sure she’s catching one perfect wave after another today. That makes me smile. Time for me to go eat Turkey!

A happy Thanksgiving indeed! We got a little bit of snow. Breckenridge reported 6″ and A-Basin reported 4″. The most I’m aware of is Snowmass reporting 12″ - very nice. I hit A-Basin this morning for a while. The riding was alright until the crowds started moving in. I’m finally getting my feet back under me. Today I noticed a considerable increase in my level of comfort. I’ve been taking it easy, working on my style, and avoiding crashing on the thin layer of hard pack. Today was the first day I felt comfortable hitting a few little kickers and getting some air. When we get a little more padding laid down, I’ll start getting a lot more aggressive.

In the parking lot, I couldn’t help but notice a lifted Isuzu Vehicross. I’m keen on these odd little vehicles. They aren’t particularly awesome off-road vehicles. They’re not particularly awesome on-road vehicles either. The Vehicross is an odd hybrid that never hit mass appeal. Still, I think they look slick, particularly when they’re modded up. If nothing else, they do stand out.

Today I found my mind running through a variety of thoughts. I spent a long time thinking about SnowTripping and how I need to jump back on that project. I’ve let it sit for way too long. On the drive home from the mountain, I also kinda wondered what the weather was like today in Costa Rica.

91 days left…

What a wonderful Thanksgiving day surprise! Benji Lanyado over at The Guardian mentioned one of my posts about our trip to Pucon, Chile in an article titled “I know what you did last winter“. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely let the fame go to my head.

Thanks to the article, I’m now aware of two more blogs: The Ramblings of Greg Hill and SnowSlider. Of course, if you hadn’t noticed, We Know Snow and Afterbang are already two of my favorites.