Shred Season Scorecard: 2009-2010

I always try wait for the “last day” of the season so I can just f*cking send it.  If I break my shoulder so what? Problem is: I usually don’t know what my “last day” of the season is until a week later, when it’s 62 degrees and raining…

Adding it all up, I got 23 days on the slopes: 4 in December, 5 in January, 9 or in February and 4 in March.  Pretty good considering how short our winter has been with a late start, and here we are mid-March and the local hills have been closed for two weeks.  Well, earlier in the winter I told you what my goals were, and I also told you that I was going to hold myself accountable, and here we are.

How would I grade myself? I’m going to give myself a B- mostly because I failed to get back on those spins (if you’re doing the math at home, these were my “final exam” and I basically didn’t show up for the test), and also because in hindsight, I think my goals weren’t lofty enough. I nailed most of them, and that tells me I need to push myself harder.

  1. Rails/Slides: I can back-board the boxes, but not rails. Didn’t try any front-boardslides. I’m doing 50/50 on rails with confidence now. Next year I’m going to have to add to this, with some 180/270 in/out, maybe try for the front-board, get those slides better on rails, and maybe some nose-slides which look super cool.
  2. Knockouts: 1. OK, so this wasn’t one of my goals, but I felt I’d put it up here anyways.
  3. 7 days straight: Got my seven-back-to-back in Utah, and hit 5 resorts out there. Awesome.
  4. Spins: Didn’t. It’s not that I didn’t land any, it’s that I didn’t even try.  A week after we got back from Park City, I wrecked myself on a straighty and even though I went riding three more times, once was still pretty sore, the next was with my nephew, and the last was slushy-soup, I didn’t go for it. That wreck majorly f*cked me up.  Mentally.  I hit jumps of the same size on my final session, but didn’t touch the one that I wrecked on. It psyched me out enough that even though I told myself all day that I was going to get back to 3′s I didn’t even try.  I’m disappointed because I got scared. And I know I shouldn’t be.

That sh*t has to stop. As the clock ticks away on this season, that’s goal #1 for next year. If I don’t do anything else, I want to knock that one down. You heard it here, first: if I only ride 3 days next year I will be thrilled if I can cross that one off the list  (Note to wife: if I cross that one off the list on Day 2 or Day 3, do not expect me to call it “quits” for the season).

Is there a possibility for some overtime?  Yes, and so there could be a comeback victory I suppose, but the clock is ticking and the weather is sucking.

About David Zemens

David is a Michigan native; snowboard addict who spends too much time shredding small hills in the dark. He is 31 and works a day job doing market research-y stuff.