Snowboarding!

Place: Lakeridge Ski Resort

Date: 5th February 2000

    Snowboarding is a tough sport, and you've got to be either a sadist or a glutton for punishment and pain if you're planning on taking it up...I remember watching people snowboard on tv, thinking to myself how easy it looked, i mean, all you gotta do is stand on a piece of board and shoosh downhill right?...Piece of cake!!...And i remember re-assuring myself that if i ever did fall, the soft and fluffy snow would cushion me and protect me from harm. So when my friends invited me to go snowboarding with them, i was more than eager to go.

   The first thing i noticed was how cold it was on top of the hill, i mean, it was so cold, that i had icicles growing from my moustache, nose, ears and eyebrows!!...the next thing i noticed was how really hard it is to control a snow-board...it's not like a skate-board where you can jump off if things started to look dangerous...with a snow-board you were strapped in for the ride...all the way!!. But the thing that hit me the hardest (and i mean that literally!) was how HARD the snow was, all those skiers pack the snow as they ski over it, making it as tough as cement!. The first time i fell, it was on my kneecaps (Ooohhh!!!) as my board bit in edgeways. The second time i fell was on my ass (Aaaahh!!) as i overcorrected too much to slow down. The third time i fell was on my face (Oouuchhh!!!) as i hit a bump and cartwheeled a couple feet down the hill...Needless to say, i didn't get up for a while...while i was lying face down in the snow, i discovered that artificial snow really does taste different than real snow! = )

     But, that was 3 years ago, and i've gone snow-boarding quite a few times since...and even though i'm still no expert, i leave with fewer and fewer injuries each trip...Now fast forward to the present...Our good pal, Jason Lam, invited us all out to the Lakeridge Ski resort...Now it was Norman, Remon and Mili's turn to experience the wonders of snowboarding...Hehehe *evil chuckle*...i specifically brought my camera along to capture any humiliating, hilarious or painful looking situtations that would arise from their first time snow-boarding...i wasn't dissapointed = )

(Background Music - "Jingle Bell Rock".)

Wuthering Heights!

I'm not particularly fond of heights, and taking the 10 minute ski-lift to the top of the Black Diamond Slope was absolutely terrifying, especially when you consider that we were 30 ft off the ground, with the wind and snow causing the fragile chair to sway back and forth, back and forth, back and...*Blerf!*

Jeff: "Hey guys, what is this horizontal bar for?...and what'll happen if i lift it up like this?"

Jason and John: "Nooooo!!!"

Ski Skool!

Norman and Remon await the ski instructor on top of the "Bunny" slope, while Mili tries out her new board in the background.

Remon: "Norman, does that "V" stand for "Victory?"

Norman: "No...it's the number of frozen butt-cheeks i've got!!"

Professional Amateur

Norman demonstrates the "proper" way to snowboard...now if only he'd push off and do it on the slope!

Norman: "Lookit me!, Lookit me!!...i'm a professional boarder!!"

Jeff: "Mili give him a push down the slope for me!"

Norman: "Aayiiee!!"

Backsliding

Norman slides down the slope on his butt after falling off his board, while Mili glides effortlessly past...back to the baby slopes for you Norman!.

Mili: "The difference between me and you is...I make this look Gooood!!"

Norman: "Help, i've fallen and i can't get up!!"

Strapping in.

Norman and Mili strap into their bindings before tackling the "baby slopes" yet again = ).

Norman: "Okay Mili, this time let's try to make it all the way down the slope on our boards and not on our asses."

Kennedy, Bono and Me!

I took out my camera and snapped these pics while skiing alongside Norman and Remon, unfortunately, in between laughing my ass off and snapping pictures, i didn't watch where i was going...however, i managed to take this picture just before slamming into the light post = )

Norman: "How's that snow taste Remon?"

Remon: "Mmmm, if i had a little syrup i could make sky-juice right here!"

Jeff: "Hahah!!....hey!, where'd that column come from!?....*Crash!*

Ice-Cubed

Norman held this pose for a full 3 minutes as we tried to get the camera defrosted enough to work. Unfortunately, he was frozen solid by the time we took the picture.

Jeff: "Okay now, hold that pose, don't move...just a litle longer...*snap*...perfect!, okay you can move now...Norman?...Norman!?"

Norman: "Help, I'm stuck!"

Pretty in Pink?

Remon poses with his stylish pink board...*snicker* = )

Jeff: "Remon, why don't you go and exchange that board?...everyone's laughing at you!!"

Remon: "Nah Man!, it Bashy yo!!"

Red-faced.

Mili tossed her board and posed with mine for this Pic.

Jeff: "Mili!, your face is all red!...what happened to you?...wait a second, are you blushing!?"

Mili: "No!, don't be silly...i fell on my face a couple times that's all!"

Cliff-Hanger.

Mili takes a picture of me posing right at the edge of the hill...below is a drop of about 50 ft.

Mili: "Okay, now take a step back...a little further....just a bit more...keep on going..."

Jeff: "Mili, are you sure there's enough space?...i think the edge is right around here somewhheeeeeeerreee!!"

Blizzard!

Just to give you an idea of how strong the snowstorm was raging on the ski-slope, Mili took this pic of us shortly before she was blown off the mountaintop...luckily, the camera survived without a scratch...Wish i could say the same for Mili = )

Norman: "Hey!, the wind is blowing Mili away!!"

Jeff: "Quick!, catch my Camera!!"

Norman: "Got It!!"

Remon: "Uhmm, where's Mili?"

Ski Chalet.

After 2 hours in the freezing cold, we were so cold, tired and hungry that we called it quits and headed for the warmth of the Chalet...nothing warms you up like a nice hot cup of Cappuchino.

Jeff: "Norman, why is all that water pooling under your seat?"

Norman: "It's the Ice melting...I swear!!."

Poutine.

Norman chows down on "Poutine", a Canadian favourite..Crispy french fries smothered in mozarella cheese and beef gravy...Mmmm...fatteningly delicious! = )

Norman: "How many calories are in this Jeff?"

Jeff: "Oh, about 10,000 grams of fat per serving"

Norman: "WHAT!?...*Tui, Tui!!*"

Winter Wonderland

Just as we were leaving, i took this picture of the ski slope from the parking lot, of course all those darned snowflakes blocked most of the view.