Whoever made the statement that snowboard boots are more comfortable than ski boots is just a little bit wrong....they are NOT!! My third toe on each foot was numb after four hours of wearing the things and to make matters worse the cramp running up my right calf felt like little elves were hammering nails into my leg...pain!!

My day of snowboarding started out on the magic carpet (the little escalator that takes you about 30metres up a little hill and then you can board down...or fall down). Strapping your feet onto a board is a new sensation altogether - you can not go anywhere or runaway from anything because your feet are secure....hence if you out of control all you can do is fall....and it's usually on your bum. (i'm sure i'm going to have two bruises on my bum tomorrow - one on either cheek smack bang in the middle!) I did have one fall where i landed badly on my left wrist and thought oh my gosh....i've done something...but it was okay after half an hour - must have just landed on it funny. Let's just say that my left arm has had enough breaks for a lifetime!

After about an hour my gloves were soaked right through and my pants were wet from sitting on the snow but i was determined to be able to at least link a turn or two by the end of the day so i persevered. My instructor was a girl who didn't speak much English and her definition of lean was the word "push" - so you had to "push with this leg" and then you "push with the other leg" - i found it quite amusing. Oh and you also had to "bring your bum to the side".

When lunchbreak came i was literally thanking the heavens - i needed a break! After lunch we got on a chairlift to go up a little higher so we could practice on a longer run. This chairlift experience was not a good one - I ended up falling knees first into the snow and the chairlift swung round and whacked me in the back of the head - I had a helmet on and the chair wasn't going fast at all so it was okay but I just ended up lying on my back in the snow laughing while the lift operator was looking over me asking if i was okay. I was more than okay....I was finding this snowboarding adventure incredibly amusing because i was so useless!

By 2pm (started at 9:30am) I had had enough...time to get those boots off and let the blood flow back to my feet and give that board back to rentals. Let's just say i'm proud of myself for trying but never again!!!