It’s raining today, and I have a bunch of work to get done, so I’m hanging out at the cabin. The others are currently in the kitchen playing a card game of some sort, and Barry’s big speakers are pumping out the psytrance at a steady 144 bpm.

I went boarding yesterday, for the second time ever; I borrowed Chris W.’s gear and spent the day with Leah P. riding up the gondola and falling down the green runs. I definitely made some progress over the course of the day, but I’m still not entirely sure why people prefer this to skiing – so far it just feels like another way to slide down a hill. Skiing experience definitely helps: I’m comfortable going downhill much faster than my level of boarding skill actually allows, so I can try hard things (and deal with the inevitable crashes) without feeling afraid that I’m going to fly out of control and die.

Wednesday was totally epic, despite only being a half day: there was lots of powder and it snowed all afternoon, so we were skiing on fresh snow almost all the time. I went out with Barry, Stuart, Geoff, and Colleen, though Colleen wasn’t feeling well and dropped out early. We basically skied the same loop all day: up to the top of Glacier chair, down to the bottom of Excelerator via Ridgerunner, and back. We kept going faster, and by the end of the day had each run and lift timed so that we could squeeze in the maximum number of runs before the lifts closed. It was great. Barry showed me a way to improve my technique that made it take a lot less work to stay in control, and I have never flown down a mountain so fast before. Terrific fun.

And then I went shopping in Whistler Village and bought a helmet. I’ve always been a skeptic, but Stuart and Barry both strongly encouraged me to look into it, and I decided that this was a good time to benefit from other people’s experience. I’m running much harder terrain and travelling much faster this season than I ever have before, so the risks have definitely increased.