The Iowan winter gives me an opportunity to learn various snow and ice-related activities. They are obviously exotic experiences for a guy like me who has spent most of his life amongst the tropics. Here's the list of things I learnt recently, ice skating, snow-shoeing and most recently snow boarding.
I went with Pavan, Jeni, Shivani and Adwait to ice-skate in the ISU ice-arena. Well it was a comedy of errors. None of us knew to skate (except Pavan who had done it just once before). We just wore the blades and stepped on the ice holding the railings at the side trying to walk on ice rather than skate. After about half an hour Pavan left the rails and boldly went to the middle. He could stand without support and he soon persuaded Shivani to come along as well. I followed suit only to start my series of falls. However after the first fall I was not afraid to fall and I kept trying. A chinese man kept guiding me and soon I was skating. After about 1.5 hours I could skate the perimeter of the arena, falling once per cycle. I did manage to give some very spectacular falls and leave blood trails on the ice. I wasn't hurt much and I didn't care! Most of times I fell when I came near my group. Most probably, it was because of my consciousness to show them that I had picked it up :P. All of us skated for 4 hours. It was really good fun. Especially when we tried to take some pictures. I was obviously scared to take my camera and go to the middle. No kidding, my camera is expensive and fragile! None the less we managed it. I had learnt something new and I loved it. Probably, I need 4 more hours and I should be just fine. So here's an invitation to all you guys, I am ready to go ice-skating again, make a plan and count me in!
For snow-shoeing, I had been to King's Peak, Utah. It was really a huge experience for me. I guess, by now I can safely say that I have hiked quite a bit. But this was HUGE. To set the premise, we were carrying 20 kg bag-packs, and lugging 20 kg toy-sledges carrying equipment, food and other rations. We had to plough through snow which at most places atleast knee-deep. We started at 6000 feet and were to reach 13500 feet and back in five days. Well the temperature was never above -30 F. In fact the first night at the base it was -50 F on the thermometer. Kings is not easy to reach in winter as one has to walk around two mountains and walk up the ridge from the south-western side. Obviously, it was no mean feet. And none-the-less my companions were seasoned atheletes or mountaineers. I was actually nervous to be frank. It seemed beyond me, but I guess that was the reckoning. Besides, if I missed this opportunity, there would be a very slim chance that I would be able to do something remotely similar to this ever in my life, and that would be a pity.
However, I did quite well, often leading the group. It's the most difficult thing to do, because the people behind the leader have a trail to walk through. So it is this post which is rotated as often as 15 mins per person. Well I won't write more about that trip because, it will become extremely long. The thing is that we didnt make it to the top, but we made it to 11500 feet. I learnt a lot of things, like rescuing somebody trapped after an avalanche, finding camping grounds on slopes, using my watch as a compass, making snow kitchens, storing water (it's critical), keeping the body warm and saving frost bites, making squirrel traps, making quinzees, starting a fire with just a flint rod. Besides, my experiences were worthwhile too. I heard avalanches at night, saw blizzards, saw huge bear paw marks and fresh excreta (that was not comforting at all), heard the cries of a pack of wolves at night. We were so far from civilization, that one could hear the commercial jets flying even though they were at the flight ceilings. I saw man made sattelites (I have seen that before, but everytime I see it I feel nice). I came to know that one of my compatriots was studying under a professor who designed the code so that the ISS stayed in orbit! I saw the moon lit up the entire frozen marsh well enough to form very dark and well formed shadows of everything around us. Ofcourse, I saw the sun rise and set in the same quarter of the sky. And yes! I was sharing my tent with a girl. It was a little weird. When you are in that level of cold , when the inside of the tent freezes up, people inside tend to press against each other in order to preserve the warmth. In both cases, if I would retreat too much or come too close, it would have been unpleasant. This after she chose to sleep with me would be a disgrace. all in all it was a largely enjoyable trip. It was more about survival than anything else. A trip that I will remember for my life time!
Last Thursday, I was supposed to go skiing at Seven Oaks Resort. It was a beginners course and obviously was a cool attraction for me. Unfortunately, it was cancelled because this warm beautiful weather melted all the snow :(. However, coming Thursday, I am enrolled for yet another session. I might have a chance then. But I can safely say that I would rather put it off to next year.
This Thursday, I went snow boarding and trust me my bum is still sore :D. We went to the slopes of Seven Oaks and again it was a beginner's course. Well to be frank, it is not so easy. The board doesn't stand, it always slides, even as you are getting up. You have to maintain your balance, control your speed by putting your weight on the hells or off it, move your weight around to change direction along with using the various edges of the snow board. And well while learning, you are bound to fall. However, the ice skating experience had really taken away the phobia of falling. Except that I didnt want to pick a lot of speed and then fall face-first! Well to be frank, I wasn't too good at it. My balance was very good and I think I picked up a lot of speed but I couldn't master the art of swaying from one side to another. I guess, it's just a feel and I just need to get a hang of it. And once I get that, I am very sure that I will be able to stop gracefully as well! I am going again coming Thursday. I am pretty sure that I will master it by then and I will try a couple of runs on the advanced slopes. If I can do that, I will be pretty happy with my this years exploits on snow!!!
P.S. Things that I am looking forward to this spring/summer: I am enrolled for kayaking, canoeing and tennis classes. Also, I am looking forward to my first chance of getting my hands behind the wheels of Mustang GT and possibly a BMW Z4! Also through my RA this summer, I should be able to fund my flying lessons and atleast one ski-jump!
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