Sais-tu comment faire du surf des neiges? (Do you know how to snowboard?)

What a day.

I feel like I can finally call myself a Grenobloise; I've carried around a baguette from the bakery in my backpack, I've been up to the Bastille multiple times, I've hiked the back country, I've studied amongst the 60,000 other students in Grenoble, and now... I've participated in that last element that makes up so much of their lives here.

Today, I learned how to snowboard in the French Alps.

Said that way, I feel like I should be some hot-shot snowboarder, but do NOT get that part wrong.  When I say I learned, I mean I started off sliding on my butt down the first hill (we went straight to blue and decided to hit it hard, no lessons really....what better way to pick it up? ha).  When I say I learned, I mean I could have entertained a bunch of giggling eight-year-old boys with all my wipe-outs.  But when I say I learned, I learned!  I was encouraged with my progress in one day, and felt like I made some nice switches on my last two runs.  But really, I have no one to impress.  I will be completely honest about how much I still have to learn.....

Starting with revealing my most frustrating, but favorite, moment of the day.  On the last run down, I was starting to get the hang of it.  My confidence had been at ground zero most of the day (because it was my first time, and because that's where I could stand on two feet without falling down :), but at last I was smiling as I started to feel comfortable on the board.  ENTER: you as a spectator, near the frosty white alpine trees, bundled up because the temperature is dropping by the second.  Watch as Natalie makes a really nice turn and then, riding the slope like she had done most of the day without problems, BITES IT hard.  We're talking legitimate face plant, people.  On the last run of the day!  What?  But I had survived so long without doing that!

You, as a spectator, laugh (it's ok, Elisabeth did).  I laughed a lot too, after I brought myself to my knees and my head stopped spinning and I verified that I had not broken my nose.  Tenacity was mine today, so I got back up and began again.  Not but ten seconds later, I plopped into the snow on a dumb mistake, my board unfortunately catching some new-fallen snow.  Ah, but this was not just any new-fallen snow, which I realized as more pelted me in the face, never-ceasing.  These were crystallized gifts from the snow-maker, which I had landed directly in front of.   Want to know the absolute worst place to make a dumb mistake?

Alright, so my last run didn't end so hot.  I will admit that.  But it was only day #1, and I'm still ready to hit the slopes next weekend (too bad I'll be on a train headed to Basel for my return flight)!  I'm so thankful I got to go today; really, snowboarding was one thing that I personally insisted I HAD to do in my lifetime, and what better place to do it than 30km from where you live?  While living in Grenoble, it seemed ridiculous if I didn't go.

And the place we went to was incredible: Chamrousse boasted 46 slopes (not all were open yet, don't hyperventilate).  The place was massive, and the ski lift taking at least ten minutes.  And fun fact! (stolen shamelessly from the internet so as to be exact): Chamrousse hosted the six alpine skiiing events at the 1968 Winter Olympics, where Jean-Claude Killy from France swept all three gold medals in the men's events!

The weather today, unfortunately, did not perform as hoped.  It started off beautiful, right when we shoved off the chairlift at the top.... the pictures up there turned out incredibly.  But by lunch time, visibility was horrible (literally 10 feet, tops), which made for some scary moments and definitely a slower time down the hill for precaution's sake.  In the afternoon, it snowed!  It was beautiful, and gave us some new snow to work with, but also changed the feel of the slope and made for a wet, cold end!

Enjoy the photos of my first day boarding.... I'm off to bed!  I know my aching body is gonna thank me! :D

 

 

seeing the peaks above the clouds was ridiculously beautiful!