On the last run of the day, Kate, Jen and I re-group just before reaching the bottom. "Go fast," Kate says, "it gets flat after the curve down there". I had spent a lot of time walking my snowboard around St Anton in the 2 days of boarding so far, because of the flatness of some of the runs, so I was determined to go fast to minimize the amount of walking I'd have to do to get back to where we were meeting Jeff. There was a small enclosed entry into the curve that headed back towards the parking lot and street, so I just had to enter that area, make a sharp right turn, and coast to the street.
Ready, I head down before the girls, building up a lot of speed, ready to take on the curve (which, in fact, looked completely flat so I needed some SPEED!). There's nobody in front of me as I approach the turn. I am determined to go as fast as I can, so I'm not carving, just leaning into it, enjoying the rush of the speed. Just before entering curve, the scenery that had been speeding by me stops suddenly, and I find myself flipping forward, headfirst. Within 0.0005 seconds, I am completely stopped. My head hits the snow, just before the turn, my board flips up and gets wedged into the snow, which stopped my momentum completely. I tried to shake off the stars, only to find myself blocking the entrance to the turn. Without thinking, I struggle to pull my board out of the snow and crawl out of the way. Within an instant, 8 or 10 skiers zoom past me, each one glancing towards me, including Jen and Kate, but continuing into the turn and coasting to the finish line. After I realize I am out of harm's way, my head drops back to the snow, I exhale, and wonder "Did I just die?"
After the concussion on Day 2, I had to make a really long walk across the flat section because of this fall...in fact, I had to walk a lot further than I would have if I had just gone slower and with more caution. And I wouldn't have had to do it with a concussion. I knew immediately something was funny. I was a bit dizzy, I had a hard time focussing on anything, I was saying weird things, and I just wanted to go to sleep. Basically, I felt drunk. The girls let me rest, but then insisted we go see the doctor. I couldn't board anymore, so instead, I walked back to the hotel...but since our hotel was still a bit downhill, I was able to sit on my board and ride it down. Luckily, someone made a small path through the deep snow, so it was like I was on a luge. It was awesome! Jen came with me to make sure my head didn't fall off or that I didn't get eaten by a polar bear.
My luge track
The doctor must get a lot of patients who have ski accidents because he isn't even open in the middle of the day - just in the morning and after the slopes close when people can come down to see him. Or maybe it's cuz he is skiing in the middle of the day. For me, the whole affair took only a few minutes...he took some x-rays (which I got to keep!) and ran some motor skills tests (like the kind they give you for DUIs). I thought I passed them (balance on one foot with your eyes closed, touch your nose, etc), but I guess it was a bad sign when he asked me "are you hammered right now?". I guess I didn't pass. I definitely wasn't hammered, so then he let me hear about the dangers of not wearing a helmet. The sad thing is that at the rental place, I considered getting one after we walked out...but since we already walked out and since I never wore one before, I figured I didn't need one this time. Lesson learned. '
My skull
After the doctor, everyone was taking good care of me, to keep me safe and following doctor's orders. Kate had the special task of making sure I didn't throw up "more than twice" that night, under doctor's orders. Otherwise she would have to take me to the hospital. Luckily, I kept it all down. The guys said I was saying all kinds of weird things that night, to which they would just smile and nod like I was a 5 year old child. But as Jen put it "you always say weird things, so sometimes it's hard to tell what is normal and what isn't".
Despite this unfortunate fall, the trip to St Anton, Austria was a lot of fun. We planned for 3 days on the slopes, with a couple nights in Zurich, Switzerland at Jen and Jeff's sweet apartment. The 3 countries on this trip (along with passing through Liechtenstein), brings the total number of European countries Kate and I have been in together to 6.
The drive from Zurich took about 2.5 hours, and during the drive, 2 things kept me entertained. One was the city called Rapperswil (I don't know what's there, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Tupac and Biggie there), and the other is the German word for "exit" - "Ausfahrt", which we saw every mile or so. Nobody else thought it was that funny, when I would giggle and say "Ausfahrt!" every 2 minutes. I guess I am still an 8 year old boy at heart.
As we approached the mountain, the snow started to come down hard. We could hardly see out of the windows, but Jeff did a great job to get us there safely in our 2 wheel drive VW without snow tires. When we say a Porsche driving along the mountain, we knew we'd be ok.
Lots of snow
Because of the heavy snow on the first day, there were a few minutes where it wasn't so fun borading...we could hardly see anything. At one point I couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of my face...I didn't know if I should stop so I didn't run into someone else, or keep going, so someone wouldn't run into me. And with everything white all around you, you can't even tell which direction the hill is going, where the angles or bumps are, or even which way the path goes. There was a time where I thought I was going downhill one way, then gravity pulled me downhill going another way!
Can't see anything!
We of course stopped in the afternoons for some lunch and drinks (apres ski). There were tons of dudes everywhere, a lot of older men in their 40s and 50s, who obviously are rich enough to make skiing a weekly affair. Everyone sings German songs in the bars, about really strange things, like taking photos together and polar bears (ask Kate to translate).
Our hotel, Parseierblick, was really nice...not fancy, but very cozy and friendly. It was next to the bottom of a gondola, a rental shop, and bars and restaurants for easy access. They served us breakfast every day, and said hi to us whenever they'd see us. The family owners also lived in the building with their cute-faced cat and their kids who practice clarinet in the evenings. They were so nice, that after I asked for some pillows after my concussion, the lady woke up in the middle of the night worrying because she forgot to bring them to me. I definitely recommend this place.
In front of our great hotel
St. Anton is a nice little town. Everything is very close and convenient, and there seemed to be a lot of nice bars and restaurants. Our nights consisted mostly of dinner and a couple drinks, but nothing too crazy. One bar offered a 9-shot challenge, to see who could drink the pre-determined 9 shots the fastest (it sounded disgusting since the last shots where jager and tequila). Apparently the record is all 9 shots in 13 seconds. I am guessing that guy had to get his stomach pumped afterwards.
St. Anton
Nice little lunch - with goulash soup!
After the snowy first day, the rest of the trip was very sunny. It's just too bad that after the fall, the doctor told me no more boarding, and I had to spend the last day sitting in the hotel since the doctor said I couldn't go up the mountain anymore. At least I got to finish reading Hunger Games. And another bonus - the rental place and the lift ticket office both refunded me the last day of rental/ticket.
Now I can take that money and buy a helmet.
Much better conditions on Day 2
No comments:
Post a Comment