My Default Blog
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Won't be keeping track of my days again after the end of the year, but did pretty good for '07, over 100 days riding snow & water
06/07 snowboard season: 53 days
07 surfing: 2 days, woopie
07 wakeboarding: 54 days, can't beleive I beat my snowboarding days!
07 skydiving: 2 days ;-)
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Published by daisys95gt: 8:17 PM
Updated On: 12/24/2007 at 4:21 PM
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Zodi went with me for my 2nd jump & her first, it was awesome!!!! I somehow lucked out & got the hottest instructor there :) We did a flip coming out of the plane, which he claimed was not on purpose but it was fun! Next time I have the option of jumping by myself, but I don't think I'm ready for that just yet! What a rush!!! I'm still high :)
06/07 Totals:
snowboarding: 53
surfing: 2
wakeboarding: 52.........Day 44 landed my 1st toeside w2w!
skydiving: 2 AHAHAHHH YEAH!!!
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Published by daisys95gt: 8:01 AM
Updated On: 12/16/2007 at 12:02 PM
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Monday, September 03, 2007
06/07 Totals:
snowboarding: 53
surfing: 2
wakeboarding: 47.........Day 44 landed my 1st toeside w2w!
skydiving: 1 AHAHAHHH YEAH!!!
Scott Steckling wake surfing at the Midwest Wakeboarder Fall Freeride:
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Published by daisys95gt: 11:49 AM
Updated On: 9/30/2007 at 8:57 AM
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Yeah that's right. Someone invited me to go skydiving last weekend about 5 minutes away from the wakeboard event we were at, so I did! Skydiving is the one thing I've always said I might back out of at the last minute, and boy was I scared. So scared, I didn't hear a word of what was said in the classroom instructions we got, although I remember something about pulling the handle for the parachute to come out....uhoh.
We get on the plane and we're all sitting in 2 rows on the floor, it's a 10 minute plane ride up to 13,500 feet before they open the door...plenty of time to start freaking out! I could see our camping spot at the wakeboard event from the plane which was pretty cool. They open the door and people start dropping out like flies. We sit up on our knees & my guide tightens himself to me, then we start what was by far the scariest thing I've ever done in my life, crawling forward on our knees toward the open door. The person infront of me jumps & there's nothing separating me from the door now, I'm scooting forward & look out at the world below, & although I am religious, I'm not Catholic, but I did the cross twice on the way to the door. I hold on to the bar above us, put my head back, and my guide pushes us out the door. WHOA!!!!!!
That first split second is a mjor head rush, I start screaming (and didn't stop until we hit the ground), then once we get to where we're parrallel with the world everything went into slow motion. Didn't feel like I was falling at all, it felt like I was floating. By far the most awesome thing I have ever experienced. After a minute of freefalling (which seemed more like 15 seconds), I looked at my altimeter & when we got to 5500 feet I reached for the handle, pulled it, and out came the chute. I was so excited that I actually did it all myself, although I later found out my guide actually pulled his handle because I was moving too slow to pull mine lol. We then spent 5 minutes gliding down, & my guide made us swing completely horizontal around the chute 4 times, after the 2nd time I started to get nautious lol, I didn't tell him though :) And when we landed, it was just like sitting down in a chair, perfectly soft. Jason, who invited me, landed right behind me & the first thing we said to each other was we are doing that again!!!! Oh yeah, I've already paid for my 2nd jump :-D
06/07 Totals:
snowboarding: 53
surfing: 2
wakeboarding: 37
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Published by daisys95gt: 11:10 AM
Updated On: 8/29/2007 at 11:40 AM
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wakeboarding DAY 7:
I FINALLY got my first w2w jump! I've been riding off a 75' line so I knew it'd be harder (always rode before at 60-65'), but I've been coming really close lately & casing the top of the wake. It's been so frustrating, 'cause I can ride switch all day long, do butter slides, powder slides, surface spins, switch 180s over the wake, and I'm always soooo close to a w2w but can't friggin' get it to save my life, it's maddening!!! On my 2nd session out yesterday Jeff shortened the rope to 65', and I was freezing but didn't care, I was getting that stupid w2w if it killed me. And I did!!! Didn't even realize I made it until I looked up & everyone in the boat was going nuts. Next I have to do it at 75'
Jeff's nephew Alex also had a really good session, look out for him at the Wakeboard Nationals! Here he is throwing a Whirly Bird:
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Published by daisys95gt: 9:49 AM
Updated On: 9/26/2007 at 9:15 AM
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I think this season can be wrapped up in one word...WRECKAGE What an awesome season it was though. I set a goal of riding 50 days (most I had ridden before was 38) and ended with 53. I could have gotten in 60 if I pushed it, but the numbers didn't matter to me anymore. Especially after I had my best POW day ever in CO, that one day was better than all the other 52 combined. And I could not have asked for a better way to end my season than riding POW with my friends in CO. I think I got a little more stupid the more days I rode, or maybe it was just that I was having so much fun. Nothing beats riding with good friends without a worry in the world & not giving a crap about how bad you might suck. And there is no better pure awesome feeling than dropping into 2 feet of freshies on an untouched peak. Well, maybe that heli trip to come... Here it is, my end of season video for the 06/07 season:
Just got back yesterday from my trip to CO. Annie & Forrest piled into my car & drove out with me for 8 days of riding. We stayed with Brian in Breck & rode in order: Breckenridge - icy & snowing, rode mostly parks but got some powder in the afternoon Vail - POW Keystone - POW in the ******* Copper - icy & sunny, mostly rode the parks Beaver Creek - icy & snowing, rode parks all day, by the afternoon we had powder at the top Vail -POW, first cornice drop! Keystone - Best POW day of my life! Hiked with Brian to an untouched peak & spent the day in Heaven Breckenridge - POW at the top but poor visibility due to thick clouds and snow, rode the top, then the t-bar, then finished off in the park 
Rode Tyrol Saturday with Annie & Edgar, because that's the only place around that is actually still blowing snow and upkeeping their hill. They have a lot of snow still, and their parks were set up really well, one of the best setups they've had all season. They replaced the tiny drop-offbeginner jump with a really good mid-sized jump, so we were hitting that & then the smaller jump below it, and I think on only our 5th or 6th run I wrecked myself on the 1st jump.....bad. The part that really made me mad is that I wasn't even trying anything new! First I was going to try a bs shifty, then about 1/2 way into the approach I decided I'd stick with a fs shifty, and as I went off the transition I must have had a brain fart and everything went wrong, my board went over my head, I think I screamed, and I landed hard on my butt, right on the knuckle. It hurt BAAAAD!!! I've never wrecked so hard that I couldn't get up long enough to clear the landing, but man that sucker hurt! I heard Annie yell at someone not to hit the jump, so I scraped myself up as fast as I could, and as I started to ride away on my hands and butt I saw Edgar running at me and Annie with one foot unstrapped hobbling towards me, Edgar kept grabbing me trying to make me sit down but all he did was make me fall over. She said they thought I broke my arm...I didn't feel my arms, or my head hit, all I felt was my throbbing toosh! It felt like my tailbone got pushed to the side. I finally got up and was able to hit the 2nd jump, but after that it really hurt to move my legs so I was pretty much done jumping. I did try to hit the small jump 2 more times and sat down, on the same sore spot of course. I had to take off Sunday & 2 days later it still hurts pretty bad. I was afraid I might have cracked something, but I think I would be in a lot more pain. Long as I'm all better by Friday, because that's when we leave for COLORADO BABY!!!!! 8 days in Breck coming up! I can't think of a better place to be when I hit my 50-day goal :-D
So St. Patty's Day is tomorrow! I'm Irish & I love to celebrate, so I'll be riding tomorrow with shamrocks on my helmet :) But St. Patty's Day is always bittersweet for me too. Tomorrow will be 5 years since I lost my good friend Happy Botros. Mambo #5 will always remind me of riding around in that Bright Atlantic Blue S281 Speedster on the PCH. The Rainbow Bridge will always remind me of what a true friend I had when I was mourning the death of my cat. Tongue rings will always remind me of how I tried to, uhh...well that's between me & Hap. And peach margaritas will ALWAYS remind me of that one crazy night that started at the Shark Club. RIP, miss you Hap!  
Saturday: rode Tyrol with Edgar, worked on my fs 180s, attempted 2 bs 180s and got road rash all over myself on the 2nd attempt. After my knees started to ache I stopped spinning and started doing shifties for the first time. They are fun, but the last one hurt my knee when I landed, so it was my last jump. Nose pressed the small box all day & then accidentally got my board turned on one of them, so I tried it on purpose and it was fun. I don't know what exactly I was doing, I don't think it was a boardslide because the board was only turned about 45º & I was on the nose. The barn box gave me problems & I couldn't really nose or tail press it very well. Sunday: went with Annie & met Edgar at Sunburst so we could use some free passes I had. None of us had ever been to Sunburst & were not thrilled when we found out that only a tow rope services the park. The place is about 1/3 the size of Wilmot, and they were having a comp. So we rode a lift up, made one run down to try to get over to the park, watched a little of the comp, then decided to go to Alpine Valley. I'd never been there either, and it was about the same size as Sunburst although their landfill is taller and not quite as spread out. Their parks would have been pretty good if anything was groomed. Everything was horribly rutted out, looked like it hadn't been groomed in a week. I hit a box and pain shot through my knee when I landed and I sat down...then hit a pacnic table that had a small gap to it. I wanted to make sure I had enough speed and ollie on so I wouldn't catch my nose on the table, and oh boy I had enough speed alright. I gapped the table, and I think my board must have just touched the end of it & threw me forward..I watched myself go past the rutted out landing, then landed on my nose and flipped around & landed on my left butt cheek. I didn't hit anything else the rest of the day, just worked on my switch riding, yaaay. I didn't really mind though, my knee was still hurting too much to land anything & I can always use some work on my switch riding. We stayed until Annie wrecked & decided she was done for the day, then left around 7.
Went to Raging Buffalo by myself for ladies' night. Last time I was there was in December & I really liked it, but I didn't like it at all tonight. All the jumps had booters that kick you straight up instead of out. I really dind't like that, so I stayed away from the big jump. Nope, instead I hit a couple of the smaller jumps and completely overshot them and landed flat. OUCH my knees! Hit a couple of boxes too but nothing felt comfortable. So I didn't stay very long, & don't think I'll bother going back this season unless I have a riding buddy. Well I think I'll leave my MWSF blog up here since it was much better than my 42nd day.... Days 40 & 41:: MIDWEST SNOWFEST at Devil's HeadMy big weekend started out on a bad note when I got up Saturday morning to intense back pain. It took me a while to figure out that I pulled a muscle in my lower back the night before when I was playing with the dog and tripped over her. The pain was so bad I could hardly walk, much less bend in any direction at the waist. Couldn't even reach my shoes to put them on. I began to think my weekend may be ruined if I wouldn't be able to ride, but even if it turned out that way I still wanted to be there for Midwest Snowfest. I prayed that the pain would go away, shuffled out of the house in pain, and forgot my jacket hanging in the closet with my camera in the pocket. On the way up to DH stopped for some drugs and heat pads, and by the time I got to the hill my back was feeling worlds better and I was able to ride. Amazingly, the pain never came back. Oh it's still stiff, but I've kept heat pads on it and pain killers in my body and I've been fine. Met up with all my riding buddies at DH and we rode all day, with Tim on the microphone blasting music for the park from the Rome tent. After riding we went out to the bar/restaurant at DH for dinner and whatever madness that goes on when we get together. It was Zodi's birthday and I don't think there's a person who rode DH this weekend who doesn't know about it. And yes, at one point the wave got going at our table. Sunday was the rail jam and there was a pretty good turnout for it, as well as the crowd of spectators who gathered. The rail jam must have gotten me in the mood to get back in my game, 'cause I started hitting the big jump, both boxes, nose pressed and tail pressed the boxes, and started doing methods off the up box. Such a fun weekend and really everyone who was there stepped up their riding as well. One of the best weekends I've had in a long time, and possibly the best weekend of riding I've had ever. Pictures to come, but for now, here's a video with some random clips from the weekend. Thanks to Erik & Jess for letting me use their camera, I was going through withdrawal without mine!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Saturday -- rode Tyrol with Edgar. Thursday or Friday I broke down and said I was going to try a 3 this weekend, no matter what. So, I started spinning off a roller, & made it to 270 a couple times but couldn't get all the way around to land a full 360. Edgar hit his shin, AGAIN, on the fun box & it turned into a huge welt. The long awaited blizzard started up and we stayed about an hour or so longer till the snow stabbing me in the face got a little too painful, then went to the Grumpy Troll, yuuuuummmm. Sunday -- Tyrol again with an extra foot of snow from the blizzard, and it snowed all day. The snow was really wet & sticky so the riding was slow. I started tail pressing the barn box, & continued working on my spins. As you can see below, I had some nice wrecks. Closest I came to landing a 360 was still a 270. And those were always when I didn't think about it. When I thought about what I needed to do, I wrecked. That whole looking over the shoulder thing is ackward when it forces you to turn away from your landing. Oh well it was a start, I'll get it eventually.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Saturday rode with Edgar at Tyrol & finally got an opportunity to hit the barn box for the first time ever, woohoooo! I really like it, but the landing was brutal on my knees so I only hit it about 3 or 4 times. Hit the new t-box & it was good too, but same story on the landing. Found out later that sometime before we got to Tyrol, a 16-year-old girl who was there with her family and twin sister lost control on an icy run and ran into a tree. She was not wearing a helmet, and died the next day. I cannot stress enough how important it is to w |
