Dry snow and 3 extra inches

7:30am Sunday morning January 2nd of the year 2005. The snow report for the day called for several inches of fresh snow and the lifts opened at 8:30am. A chance at first tracks over soft, light and dry snow motivated us to wake up at the crack of dawn and head for the mountain at 8:15. The total group included approximately 8 people although I drove up to the mountain with only one other person. John's girlfriend Lisa both of whom I had met at a New Years Eve party and had ridden with the day before. Lisa and I hit the lifts at approximately 9 am and I took the first line down the mountain. The area was closed due to low snow coverage but I picked my lines carefully and hit some of the best snow that Mt. Hood has seen all season. At one point I skated up a small hill only to drop down the steep backside of the closed run creating luscious lines through the untouched snow.

Light, dry, cold and perfect.?

After our first run Lisa and I met up with the rest of the group whom had dragged their feet coming out of the lodge. I guess it was too early for them. At approximately 9:30 am we headed to the top of Cascade express; the highest lift-accessible area at Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort. The wind was blisteringly cold but it kept the snow dry and light or in other words; perfect. Lincoln (another snowboarder that I had met at the New Years Eve party and had ridden with the day before) and I became impatient waiting for the entire group to strap in and decided to ride together since we possessed equivalent riding abilities (although secretly I know he is a lot better than I).

I led.

We dropped in and picked a line straight through the trees. We hit the first group of trees and the freshly fallen snow was several inches deep. Our boards carved curvy lines through the snow and rounded each of the trees as we weaved back and forth spraying snow in every direction. We emerged from the trees a few minutes later and hit the groomed runs for a bit. The terrain was not very steep and we needed to maintain our speed. I choose a line to the left of a group of trees and Lincoln stayed to the right. The group of small trees was approximately 50-75 yards in length and at the end of the group I decided to cut over to the right hitting a patch of untracked snow between two small trees. I dug in my back heel (I ride goofy) and my board carved a tight line straight towards the patch of snow. As my board flattened out my speed increased and I leaned back so as to glide over the top of the snow.? My line was flawless, my speed perfect and my balance impeccable; I hit the untracked snow in the most perfect manner possible.

And then??

BAMM!!!!

The nose of my board sunk about 1 inch into the snow hitting a stump and wedged itself under one of the stump's stubbed branches. Because I was leaning back my boarded flexed and when inertia kicked in the board acted like a spring board sending me flying forward into the unknown mass of snow. My body twisted slightly while in the air and I came back down to earth with a mass of force behind me. The upper left portion of my left leg made contact with a rounded rock that was buried just below the surface of the snow and my body came to a sudden halt. The mass of energy that had sent me flying into the air was now concentrated on a single area of my body and because the rock could not absorb the energy the muscles around my leg absorbed the full brunt of the force.

I laid face down in the snow with the wind knocked out of me and completely stunned. My body must have gone into instant shock because I could not feel my legs or anything below my waist for a solid 30 seconds. After 30 seconds had passed the sensation slowly came back like a lit fuse at the end of a bottle rocket. I could feel my toes, then my heel? no pain? the sensation moved up to my ankle and then to my calf. Still no pain. Sensation returned to my knee? nothing. As it crept up to my thigh that is where the fuse made contact with the bottle rocket of pain. The pain immediately soared from my thigh straight to my brain and exploded.

Already out of breath my body attempted to suck in more air to alleviate the pain but my lungs still hadn?t received the signal to start billowing and even if they had I would have sucked in pure snow. Despite the pain I forced myself to roll over. Another 30 seconds passed before my lungs decided to accept air that my mouth and throat was attempting to suck in. I laid in the snow, my legs contorted and my eyes staring straight into the sky. The sounds of the skiers and boarders riding by me fading into oblivion and I laid in my own surreal world.
It was a good twenty minutes before I could force my body to sit upright and it took another 5 minutes to stand up. I knew that I had to get down off the mountain and the longer I waited the more painful it would be. I bit my lip, strapped into my board and began the long decent to the ski lodge. What would normally take about 5 minutes took over 40. I made it down and headed straight for the bathroom to exam my wounds.

The bruise on my thigh was not more than an inch in diameter. I had no lacerations, no scrapes and no indication of a broken bone. Nothing. Everything appeared to be normal with the minor exception of the pain.

5 days later?.

The damage is beginning to surface. The bruise has grown to a nice and full 9 inches long by 7 inches wide. A new bruise appeared on my inner thigh which received no direct impact but suffered from the shear amount of force to the front of my leg; it has a 2 inch diameter. My left thigh measures a full 3 inches larger than my right thigh and I have an additional 2 inches of swollen mass just above my left knee cap as compared to my right.

The doctor has checked out my leg and I appear to have no broken bones, nor small fractures or damage to my ligaments. My leg has just suffered an unusually strong amount of force and she expects the remainder of the bruise to surface within the next few days. When it does about 60-70% of my thigh will have visible bruising.

Luckily it has not snowed this week and by this time next week the snow should be really good and my leg should be healed enough to go ride it.
Wish me luck on my next ride!