First Days Riding

I finally got cleared to snowboard! (kind of)

First run of the season!

I saw my physical therapist on the 21st of this month and she said snowboarding wasn't a good idea because I was still "at high risk" for reinjury. However, she also said I'm still gonna be at high risk until June, and I've done everything I can personally do to prepare myself to ride so if I want to ride it's my personal choice (but she and my surgeon would prefer it if I waited longer.) So I took that to mean I was cleared.

Couldn't be Happier

I rode by myself for my first two days. Honestly, I was terrified before going up the magic carpet for my first run. Since I wasn't exactly given the green light, I wasn't sure what to expect from my knee. What if my ACL ripped out the second I made my first turn? The one thing I really shouldn't do right now is fall, and I did that twice during my first run. Luckily I was moving slow enough that my falls were basically me just sitting down. I definitely looked like I was just learning to ride because I had beginner stance my first couple runs- you know, all weight on the back leg with knee super bent, and front leg completely straight out. It was bad. I kept in on the magic carpet and The Big Easy for those first two days, and only got like 5 runs in each day before my knee started feeling sore.

Me, my Mom, and my Dad at the top of Zephyr

Then my parents came up on Christmas eve. After spending two hours getting their rentals in the village, we got on the chair to mid-mountain. My first chair to an actual run! Taking real runs instead of just the bunny hill was kind of scary. I ventured up to the summit with them, and took it real slow the whole way down. I think I got seven chairs in on that day, but my knee was definitely sore right away. It only actually felt ok when I was riding switch, which really surprised me. I was also surprised to find out I don't know how to carve switch. Maybe I just couldn't turn because I was babying my knee. Who knows. Once my knee was really feeling done, I told my parents to ski some more without me and I went and chilled by a fire.

I took Christmas day off to rest my knee and my parents headed back home. Once they left Tahoe I realized I left my knee brace in my dad's car, so now I can't ride until that gets back up here in the mail. It should come in tomorrow and then I can go make some turns at Boreal while my Northstar pass is blacked out.

Making turns like a BOSS.

My surgeon had worried that I'd try sending it as soon as I got back on my board and get reinjured, but that won't happen. I'm so happy to just make turns that I don't feel the need to even go into the park yet. My main priority is still strengthening my knee and not pushing it too soon. I have my first competitions coming up in mid-January but I'm gonna wait it out on "training." If those contests come up and I still don't feel ready to get in the pipe or jump, I'll drop out. I have big plans for next season and I'm not going to throw away a huge opportunity for a Rev Tour stop or USCSA event.

For now, just strapping in is enough to be thankful for.

My mom and dad are rad, btw.