Riding Journal

Steamboat 12/26/08

It was a snowy Christmas so the day after offered up some fresh snow and not that many people on the slopes.  
Here’s the video from riding, it was a really fun day until the end.  This was taken with the vholdr cam, still working on the angle when riding but at least it’s not all looking down now.  
I met up with Dave (who I know from snowboard.com) and his brother Brian. His other brother had binding issues and went in on our first run.  
We started a warm up in the Three O’Clock trees off Sundown Express.  That definitely got my legs back on the board and ready for more.  

Dave took the shot of me riding in the Aspens
We rode back up Sundown but this time dropped into the Morningside area of the mountain.   Morningside is a great area, but the downside is the flatness of the terrain.  Combine that with pine trees, you have more of a chance of tree wells which are very dangerous.   Anytime you ride trees, make sure you are riding with people and know the area.   On the chairlift they had the sign up for avi danger and ski patrol was out to make sure the runs were safe…but there is always a chance.  We stayed on the Wake Up Call side which is a more mellow run but really fun and always deep snow.  
Dave found a nice drop of rocks to ollie off of.  I have this in the video, he definitely caught his board on something before the drop and went nose diving over.

On our way back to the frontside of the mountain, we found a cat track they could jump off it and Dave showed off his new Never Summer SL and nose grab.
We were heading back to the top of the gondola, going through the twister trees for some tighter aspen turns…when I took a fall but this time, something didn’t feel right.  I’ve been having stomach pain for almost a week, but thought nothing of it.  Unfortunately when I fell something really started to hurt and it meant calling Ski Patrol.  Brian waited with me and Dave was on the run getting Patrol.  

It was another toboggan ride down the mountain with a straight ride to the hospital.  Because my injury wasn’t really snowboard related (not knee, wrist, shoulder) and it was internal it was an emergency.

Ski Patrol recognized my jacket, so I cracked the joke that he probably knew it from yelling at me to slow down a couple times.  
Injuries in Steamboat aren’t as bad as other places I’ve been injured at.  There’s a free shuttle from the ski patrol to the hospital and that saves you on the cost of an ambulance.  It’s really quite easy to get to the hospital which is only 2 minutes away.  

I lied in the hospital bed for 6 hours, giving blood samples and got my first cat scan.  They ruled out my appendix being the major issue, as far as they could tell it was fine.  I’m taking a couple days off the snow, mostly to see if the pain decreases and to follow up with my doctor to see how serious the problem is.  
On a positive note, Pony Express opened on Saturday and the superpipe should be open either Monday at the earliest or Tuesday.  Looking forward to the superpipe and if I can ride, I’ll be up there then.
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  • Anonymous
    December 28, 2008 at 1:13 am

    100.00 bucks its a hernia
    get well soon

  • Shayboarder
    December 28, 2008 at 1:31 am

    Thanks for the wishes. It’s not a hernia though.

    The cat scan showed ovarian cysts, that’s what is causing the pain apparently. I’ll see the doctor on monday to find out more.

  • Huckleberry Hart
    December 28, 2008 at 11:12 am

    Vibes yr way kid. Hope you are back to slaying powder dragons soon!

  • Lucy
    December 28, 2008 at 11:13 am

    Shay,
    Hope it goes ok cysts can be really painful!
    Let me know if you are up to riding with an old lady before the 4th if not we are up every weekend!
    Get well soon!
    Lucy

  • Crispy
    December 30, 2008 at 12:59 am

    Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

  • Shayboarder
    December 30, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Thanks everyone for the well wishes.

    I just got back from the doctor, got to see my insides which is always lovely. On a good note, they removed what the issue might have been and I have to wait 6 weeks to find out if another issue is going away or needs to be surgically removed.

    But I can snowboard, i’ll have minor pain and if I smack my stomach I might have more pain…but other than that, I’m going to ride tomorrow!