Stopping

Friday was my second Jump Day.  Above is Lance demonstrating his superman trick.  As mental as this looks in the photo, it looks even more mental when you see it done in real life.  The format of jump day was really similar to last time, with us building three kickers; small, medium and large.  However, this time the big jump was even bigger than last time so I still didn’t hit it.  To see Lance hitting the big jump you can go to my Picasa site where there is a short video of one of his jumps.  Last time I was working on the small jump, but this time I hit the medium jump all day.  Although I managed a few good tricks, I was a little disappointed with some of the tricks that went wrong.  So I’ll be back in the park tomorrow to get some more practice!  Here is one of my jumps from Friday with me sporting the Marmite trousers (you either love ‘em or hate ‘em).

Since last weekend quite a lot has happened.  I have continued to train for my Level 2 exam and I have finally managed to get a place on the exam in April.  There is a small ‘problem’ in that I am supposed to be leaving Whistler next week and, as the sharper eyed people will have already noted, it is only March.  After much thought I managed to solve the ‘problem’ and will be staying (or stopping as some of my friends would say) in Whistler for another four weeks – taking me to the end of April.   Awesome. 

During the week I have ridden some really steep stuff (again) and worked on running lessons in preparation for my instructor exam.  I have also built jumps, hit the park, raced through the trees, enjoyed several powder days, worked on my carving and ‘celebrated’ St. Patrick’s Day (even though technically it wasn’t as it is Holy Week this week).  It has been snowing all week in Whistler, making perfect conditions for jump day as it means that there is lots of soft stuff to land in!  With all the new snow around we have been able to hit some tree runs that have been pretty sketchy up until this week.  Below is a shot of a run that is called Mr Toad’s Wild Ride.  Dodging under the trees whilst riding and avoiding the holes in the path makes for a really exhilarating ride!  The path is alongside part of the run known as Peak to Creak  (which runs all the way from the top of the mountain to the bottom) so is a really long and challenging blast through the forest!

Happy Easter to everyone.  I have discovered popping easter eggs – Cadbury’s mini-eggs with popping candy in them.  Highly recommended.

Oh, and yes Lance did land the superman trick above.  Front flip, 180 and then you land.  Or at least Lance does – I’m pretty sure I would die if I tried it!  Until next time…