You see that sweet somber "everything is gonna be a'right" look my husband is giving me? That is the exact opposite of how I feel right now. I signed up for a class where it's just me and my teacher. Independent study is what they call it. After much thought, I decide documenting back country snowboarding would be a grand idea. Except it's not. Sure, in the winter, where I would have some snomoshredding days to back me up, it would be good. Now though, with five weeks to shoot and my first day accomplished, not so good. You see, taking photos is hard. Taking photos while hiking up a snowy mountain with four other guys and then having to ride down that mountain with all your photo gear all while trying to get the perfect shot that is reliant on people you kind of sort of know? Really hard. I'm sure there are more posts to come on this throughout time, though, so lets focus on the first day of shred season.
Minus a cold it was about as good as any board day. I'm still not this great rider who can tell the board where to go and such, so maneuvering around the rocky parts was a bit difficult. And there's the part where Charly dropped in first, then yelled "Go to the RIGHT," and I got my right and left mixed up and ended up butt sliding down some steep rocky face. In the end, we arrived home before eleven with a feeling that we had conquered the day and could now lay lazily on the couch for the next eight hours. Although we didn't because I think this day inspired Chuck and he installed air bags onto his truck instead. It is an odd feeling to pull into your driveway and see people waking up and just starting their day and knowing you've already accomplished something incredibly hard and adventurous. And if you think hiking up a snowy mountain isn't hard don't talk to me, I don't wanna hear it.
Oh, plus there the time in the night where I woke up at 3am and my brain immediately went "AVALANCHES!" You can tell I'm just a little bit nervous about those things.
Now it is 7:30 at night and I just woke up from a short nap. Keeping my eyes open is nearly impossible but I know i can't go to bed yet. It takes it outta ya, waking up at 5 am to do these things. 9'o clock, please come sooner so I can slumber.
Shadows of the Tetons.
