On the Mountain - Part I

I've had a difficult time finding the energy to sit down and write about my ride down the mountain. My left ankle is still sore, a souvenir from my recent trip to Quebec. I felt a strange, painful popping sensation earlier this evening, which makes me suspect that I may have done more damage then garden variety shin splints. J claims that spending all afternoon and a good portion of the evening sitting on the floor while constructing a Lego house is the cause and that I will be fine in the morning.

We split the drive over two days on the way up to Mont Tremblant. Day one was uneventful and included a stop in Wilkes-Barre to see the Baby Penguins play. Day two included an errant GPS, resulting in a ferry ride across the mostly frozen Ottawa river, a drive through the backwoods of Quebec and a surprise viewing of the Steelers game.

I only made two runs down Mont Tremblant, one down the north face, one down the south, both on the same day. I did not plan on making only two runs, but in a moment of forgetfulness I went down the wrong (north) face and was forced to return to the top and make a second run down the correct (south) facet

As I am an extremely inexperienced snowboarder, the first run took forty-five minutes and included frequent stops and falls on a mixed of groomed powder and pebbly ice pellets. By the time I reached the bottom of the face (and realized I had come down the wrong side) I was sweating, wet and my ankles ached.

In need of a break before getting back on the lift, I made my second, more fatal mistake of the day, and loosened my boots.