When you’ve been doing something for a while and you
look back on the beginning- its always feels like “Wow, how is it possible that
I even learned to do this?.”
Like, when I was learning to drive in New York (vs potato country) and I used to slam Lil Mo
into the windshield when I would stomp on the brake, thinking it was the clutch
(in my defense I only learned how to drive on old jeeps).
Or, Like
when I was in
Miami and I tried to drive on an overpass bridge while it was going up.
Now
I only hit
fruit trucks that don’t matter.
Learning is awesome.
Here are some more gory learning stories told by the lovely
Melissa and Ryan Baker.
SLASH 'EM GASH 'EM
Melissa’s tale comes to us from Magic
Mountain in the South Hills of Idaho. She and her friend Lauren rode the bus up
to the hill alone, understanding that parents just get in the way.
Lauren had
skied most of her 14 years but was ready
to make the switch and learn how to ride. It was not big deal really- Melissa
was there to explain it all, snowboarding isn't hard, duh...
They scoffed
at the bunny hill and all those people on it, learning to do stuff- and in true
gaper fashion took the lift to the top of the big bad hill.
After
watching Lauren groom half of the hill on her heelside, Melissa could not
longer take it.
She explained that a snowboard has two
edges and Lauren needed to get off her heels and on to her toeside.
The solution?
They would hold hands and synchronize
snowboard.
All Lauren had to do was turn around
Melissa, facing the mountain on a new edge in a new direction, on a 25 degree
slope.
Easy.
Lauren- ate it.
Melissa in true teaching form- ran over
her new student.
Leaving Lauren’s arm with a new tattoo,
displaying the edge work of a properly made turn.
Next up we have Ryan Baker with
SMASH 'EM AND BASH 'EM
(when reading this story to yourself please make sure
your voice breaks like a 13 year old boy, so you can get the full effect of
Ryan’s voice)
This
story is about my dad, 55 year old man, that I got on a snowboard a few years
ago.
When talking my Dad into making the switch from skiing to
snowboarding I was honestly worried the guy was going to kill himself.
Watching him ride, made me understand the fear parents have watching their kids
doing thing that could possibly cause them bodily harm.
With
that being said, I tried to talk him into getting a helmet, which he shrugged
off, being the macho guy he is...
He
picked up riding pretty well and somehow avoided injury in the process. After a
pretty solid run, or rather plowing down on his heelside edge, Pops was at the
base of the hill unstrapping ready for some apres ski drinks.
While
unstrapping, his lace clip on his pants caught his binding when he lifted his
foot up from the board. This caused him to hop backwards a few times
trying to catch his balance- finally toppling over backwards.
Luckily for
him, a cement support was right there to cushion his head after his graceful
ballerina type fall.
Pops
split his head open.
He luckily didn't require any stitches, just a few
butterfly band-aids.
Moral
of the story, no matter how big your balls or ego are, wear a helmet.
baker's doppelgaper
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