Smacked Down on the Step Up
OR Mountain 1, Harley 0
Way back before Christmas, I took a Sunday morning to hang out in one of the Snowmass terrain parks. One of the features was a 20 ft. step up (20 ft. being the distance of the gap, lip to landing --- all things considered not a terribly large jump). Essentially something like this:



The far side was just a tad concave, but was manageable the first couple hits. Later in the day I made my usual mistake of deciding to "really get after it," and bombed the hill. Took the jump with a more speed than recommended. I came down right in the midst of the concave, which --- when combined with a bit too much speed and bit too little proficiency --- had me airborne again, headed towards the flat.

The flat is where you don't want to land.* Anything with a real angle is acceptable --- your falling momentum gets pushed out, but when you hit the flat it's just you and the hard pack. I came down like a old man falling on concrete, separated my shoulder and called it a day.

Luckily, the accident was just before Winter Break. H and I went back East for 2 weeks to see her family and by the time I got back all was well again.

Which brings us to the present. We got another 11 inches of snow last night, with more on the way Wed and Thurs. That's lining up Saturday for an old school smack down, Harley versus the Volcano, or Mountain as it were. If you're up in Aspen this weekend, thats where you'll find me, trying to even up the score. ;)

//H

*Warning: This one's a stomach cruncher. Brown lived to walk away though.