Tara's Snowboard Season Countdown!!

GeoCities.us » Pipeline » Summit

Get your FREE home page!

SNOWBOARD SEASON
COUNTDOWN!!!

~*~ Tara's page ~*~ 16 ~*~ rider ~*~ junior ~*~ waiting for snow ~*~

DAYS UNTIL BEAR HOLLOW OPENS
(Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1999 -- if it snows -- PLEASE SNOW)

as of Friday Sept 24. I change it by hand. If it's wrong I'm at school.

62 days!! 62 days!! do the snow dance!! 62 days!!

my gear ~*~ the PASS ~*~ the crew ~*~ tricks to land ~*~ snow dance ~*~ skating till then ~*~ links

hey!! ok so I'm Tara, I'm 16, I'm a junior, and there is NOTHING TO DO until the mountain opens. Seriously. School started August 30th and it is already the longest year of my life and it's only September. I made this page in study hall (shhh) because I needed somewhere to put the countdown that wasn't the inside of my binder, which is full.

This is my third season riding. First season I fell down for like 4 months straight and my mom said "are you sure you don't want to go back to skiing" and I said NO and I was right. Second season I got my first real board for Christmas (see gear) and I finally linked turns and then I got kind of ok. This season I am going to get GOOD. That's the whole plan. That and pass chemistry.

Bear Hollow is our mountain. It's not huge, it's like 40 minutes from my house, but it's got a terrain park now (since last year!!) and they're putting in a bigger box and a second rail this fall according to the sign in the lodge, and they open on Thanksgiving if they can make enough snow. They start the snow guns the first week of November. I am going to be there opening day even if it's one run of manmade slush. ESPECIALLY if it's one run of manmade slush.

~*~ my gear ~*~

Board: 148, freestyle, twin tip, purple with a big flame on it that everyone says is ugly and I say is AWESOME. It was my Christmas present last year (my whole Christmas present, and my birthday, thanks mom and dad!!). I waxed it and put it away in June and I have taken it out of the closet like nine times just to look at it. My dad says I should "just leave it alone." My dad doesn't get it.

Bindings: strap bindings. My friend Corey has step-ins and he loves them but I like being able to crank my straps down. Also they were cheaper.

Boots: second season on these, they're finally broke in and comfy and now they smell. That's the trade-off. Fabreeze does not work on snowboard boots, I have tested this scientifically.

Goggles: my old ones scratched last March so I need new ones. Birthday is October 12 (hint hint if you know me).

Pants & jacket: same as last year. Pants have a rip in the butt from a rail I did not land. It's duct taped. Duct tape is a snowboarder's best friend.

Mittens vs. gloves: MITTENS. Warmer. Gloves are for skiers who need to hold poles. This is a whole fight with Jess (see crew) and I'm right.

Beanie: I have 11. I will get more. It's a problem.

Helmet: mom says I have to this year after I bonked my head in the park in February. ok FINE. It's actually kind of a cool one. don't tell her I said that.

The board's getting a tune-up before opening day. Ridgeline Snowboard & Ski Tune does mine (edges and a hot wax) -- I'm taking it in the week before Thanksgiving so it's fresh.

~*~ the PASS ~*~

I HAVE MY SEASON PASS!!!!!

Student season pass at Bear Hollow is $299 if you buy it before October 15 (after that it goes to $349 so DON'T WAIT). I paid for it myself. I want that on the record. I babysat all summer for the Kowalski twins (hi Tanya's mom!!) and I worked at the snack bar at the pool and I saved every single dollar and I put it in a coffee can in my closet and I did not touch it, not even for the concert in July, and on September 11 I took the coffee can to the mountain office and counted out $299 in fives and tens and twenties and the lady at the window said "wow" and gave me the pass. They took my picture for it and I look like I'm about to sneeze. I don't even care.

A day ticket is $32 on weekends so the pass pays for itself in like ten days and I am going WAY more than ten days. I've got a calendar on my wall with every Saturday and Sunday from Thanksgiving to March circled and also winter break and also "sick days" (kidding mom).

The pass hangs on my mirror where I can see it from my bed. It's basically the most valuable thing I own.

~*~ the crew ~*~

Jess -- my best friend since 4th grade, rides goofy, better than me at rails and worse than me at jumps and we will argue about this forever. Wears gloves. Wrong.

Corey -- the only one of us with a car (a '91 hatchback, the heat works sometimes) which makes him the most important person in the crew, which he knows. Step-in bindings. Lands everything then falls over walking to the lift.

Danielle -- started last year and already caught up to us, which is kind of annoying but she's so nice about it you can't be mad. Brings snacks. Always has hand warmers. An angel.

Ricky -- goes big. Sometimes too big. Ricky's the reason there's a "helmet" entry in the gear list because when he ate it in the park in February I was right behind him and ate it too. Sorry Ricky. Wants to hit the big jump line this year.

Ben -- my little brother, 13, he SKIS. We're working on him. He gets to ride in the hatchback because my mom makes us take him. He's ok. Don't tell him I said that either.

Crew rules: nobody rides alone, last chair is at 4, meet at the lodge fireplace, whoever falls the most buys the hot chocolate. (It's been me twice. It was Ricky the other four times.)

~*~ tricks to land this season ~*~

Things I can already do: link turns anywhere on the mountain including the icy stuff, ride switch on the greens (sort of), ollie, ride the little box straight (50-50), small jumps and land them (mostly), and fall in a way that doesn't hurt (this took 2 years and is honestly the most useful one).

THE LIST for 1999-2000:

Frontside 180 off a real jump, not just off a bump. And LAND it and ride away switch.
Indy grab. I get my hand down there and then I panic and let go. Commit, Tara.
Method. Ricky can do a method and it looks SO cool. This is the one I want most.
Boardslide on the box (sideways on the box, not straight). Jess can do it. Jess will not shut up about it.
50-50 on the new RAIL when they put it in. Scary. Doing it anyway.
Ride switch on a blue all the way down without switching back.
Backside 180 by the end of the season. Stretch goal. This one might be a 2000-2001 thing.

Jess and I have a bet -- whoever lands more of their list by spring break buys the other one a new beanie. I'm going to have 12 beanies.

Ever since they had snowboarding in the Olympics last year in Nagano my mom takes it more seriously, like it's a real sport now (it always was, mom). I watched every second of it on tape. Jess and I watched the halfpipe like four times.

~*~ the official snow dance ~*~

Every snowboarder knows you have to do the snow dance or it won't snow. These are the rules as established by me and Jess in 8th grade and they have worked every year so far (it has snowed every year so far, so, proof).

Wear your pajamas inside out.
Put a spoon under your pillow. (Everyone knows this one, it's for snow days too.)
Flush an ice cube down the toilet. One per inch you want. Don't do 20, my brother did 20 once and my dad got mad about the plumbing.
Go outside, face north, and do the dance. The dance is: hop hop spin, hop hop spin, arms up, shake. Repeat till the neighbors look.
Say "dump on Bear Hollow" three times. (It means SNOW dump. Corey. Grow up.)
Go to bed. Do not check the weather. Checking the weather cancels it out.

First snow dance of the season is scheduled for November 1. All crew must attend. Ben has to do it too even though he skis, snow is snow.

~*~ skating till then ~*~

What do you do for 62 days? You skate. It's the closest thing -- same stance, same balance, same "look where you want to go not at your feet." My ollie on the skateboard got way better this summer and I swear it helped my ollie on the snowboard last spring so I'm doing it on purpose now. We skate the parking lot behind the church on Elm (not on Sundays, they asked nicely) where there's a curb and a little ledge and nobody yells. Corey made a wooden box out of a pallet. It's terrifying and great.

Also: squats and lunges, because my legs are going to be JELLY on opening day otherwise. Danielle found a workout in a magazine and we're sort of doing it. Sort of. Also jumping on the trampoline in Ricky's backyard to practice grabbing my feet. Also running, one time, which was enough.

If you're a skater check out Kickflip Kyle's Skate Page, he's 15 and he can actually kickflip, which I can not. And the Torres brothers built a halfpipe in their backyard which is insane and I want one.

~*~ links ~*~

Learning to Snowboard at 40 -- this guy is FORTY and learning to ride. Respect. Total respect. My dad won't even try.

Ridgeline Snowboard & Ski Tune -- where my board gets its hot wax.

Kickflip Kyle's Skate Page

Building a Backyard Halfpipe

Winter Camping for the Sane -- people who go OUT in the snow and SLEEP in it on purpose. ok.

the Pipeline neighborhood -- more boards of all kinds

coming soon: pictures from last season!! my mom has the camera and the film is "somewhere." Also a page for each trick when I land it (so, a page for each trick, eventually, when I land it, ok).

you are snowboarder number

to visit since January 1999!! (that's a lot. hi everybody. do the snow dance.)

e-mail me!!
tell me your snow dance. tell me your trick list. tell me if you're at Bear Hollow opening day and we'll ride. (parents: I don't give out my last name or my school on here, so don't ask, my mom reads this.)