Climate Change is Real

Mother Nature hasn’t been nice to us all week with rain and warm weather. Despite 60°F today, I went to Liberty to see if the trails were still skiable. As expected, the ice was slushy. I couldn’t snowboard down the green trail without stopping to rest my feet. They were excruciatingly uncomfortable. I was using Đán’s rental boots because he took mine. After five runs, I couldn’t continue.

Because my feet hurt so bad, I didn’t make any progress on snowboarding. I wanted to work on the torsional twists and the pole drills, but I couldn’t do them. I ended up switching to skiing. I went up to the blue trail and skied around moguls. I still love skiing.

Climate change is making a huge impact on skiing and snowboarding. If the weather continues to get warmer and warmer in the winter, we won’t be able to ski in the next few years. I hope that won’t be the case.

Snowboarding is Clicking

After countless falls and frustrations, I am getting a hang of snowboarding. I can do the toe turn thanks to Tommie Bennett’s turning techniques. Bennett’s ultimate guide to changing edges was also helpful.

I learned to avoid catching edges by squeezing my board. When an instructor explained to me the squeezing technique last year, I didn’t understand what he meant, but I get it now. What clicked for me was that I had to remember to constantly put my weight on my front foot. Kevin Pearce’s “Slow to Fast Snowboard Turn Progression” demonstrated this technique.

Learning snowboarding is definitely harder than skiing. I fell so much that my body was immune to the pain. Out of frustration, I almost gave up, but I kept going. I thought I might be too old for snowboarding, but what I really needed was patience.

I still love skiing, but I am ready to take on the snowboarding challenge. I still have a lot to learn, but snowboarding is unlocking a whole new world for me.

My Little Xuânshine and Me

Spent all day with my little Xuânshine skiing and learning to snowboard. The condition at Whitetail was icy. We kicked off with two runs on the blue trails—neither black nor double black opened. We ate lunch and switched to snowboarding. Xuân was doing good. He could start to link his turns. He just needed a bit more patience to get past the frustrating part.

I didn’t make much progress on snowboarding today. I was still trying to figure out how to change edges without flattening my board and catching the edge. I am taking my time and trying to be patient with snowboarding. I still have a lot to learn, but I can control my board and my speed. My goal is to get my torsional twists down.

I had a fantastic bonding time with Xuân. With four kids, I find spending time alone with just one—once in a while—to be meaningful. I am glad that he decided to spend a whole day with me on the mountains rather than to spend on his digital devices. His brothers chose the latter. They rather played on their computer than went skiing and snowboarding. Of course, it would be fun to go with the whole family, but I was happy hanging out with my little Xuânshine. He has so much strength and energy for a six-year-old boy.

Digging Snowboarding

We went back to Liberty for the first time this season. It only had a few green and blue trails. I spent four hours on the bunny slope and the green trail to learn snowboarding. I figured out how to do the toe turn. Even though I still caught the edges occasionally, I was able to put together the “S” turn.

Snowboarding is started to click. My next goal is to make my “S” turns narrower and link my turns smoother. I still have a lot to learn, but I am starting to dig snowboarding. Of course I won’t give up skiing. I still love skiing, but I just want to challenge myself with snowboarding.

Our Last Night in Vermont

We didn’t hit the slopes today because it had rained all day. After skiing for five days straight, we needed a day off to rest and relax before heading back home tomorrow.

Yesterday, Đạo asked his mom and me what was the best vacation we ever had. My wife couldn’t come up with anything at the moment, and I told him, “This is it.” I was having the best time of life enjoying the winter sports and hanging around my love ones. What more could I ask for? I treasured the time we spent together because no one knew how long we could stay on this earth. I don’t want to wait until my clock runs out. I want to take advantage of the time I have with my family. I love my wife and kids too much.

I hope they enjoyed their time with me as well. Anyway, here’s a short video of our trip at Okemo.

My Legs Gave Out

During my snowboarding lesson yesterday, I fell and almost twisted my right knee. Later into the night I could barely lift up my leg without feeling the sharp pain. I thought I won’t be able to ski today. When I woke up this morning, I still felt the pain, but I determined to hit the slopes to ski with my little Vương.

Today, the boys and I went all the way to the top of the mountain. I wanted to take Vương all around the green slopes. We did fine for a bit and then took the shortcut to the blue slope to get back down to the base. It was a big mistake. Vương got a little scared even though I held on to him the whole time. Skiing on the blue slope with a toddler was quite a challenge, but we made it back down with just one fall.

After lunch, I left Vương with his mom and the rest of us went back to the black slopes. After five days straight on the slopes, I could feel the pain. I was exhausted and my legs gave out. And yet, the pain on my knee has subsided without any painkillers or patches. We managed to do two runs before the lift closed out.

All-day rain is forecast for tomorrow. We might just stay in and rest up before heading back home on Saturday. We’ll see.

Snowboarding Lessons

Xuân and I took snowboarding lessons today. We signed up for a whole-day group lesson, but Xuân was the only student in his group and I along with another girl in our group. The instructor took us on the green slope just after 45 minutes on the bunny slope. We fell like crazy.

I got my heel turns down, but still had trouble with my knee turns. Once I get my knee turns down, I can link them together. I need more time to practice before everything would click together. Snowboarding is much more challenging to learn than ski. I haven’t given up yet.

I am hoping I won’t be in so much pain tomorrow so I can ski together with little Vương. Poor kid wanted to ski with me today, but I had to take snowboard lessons and I was wiped out afterward. I’ll make it up to him tomorrow.

Skiing with Vương

On Tuesday, I spent almost the whole day on the slope with Vương. He enjoyed skiing together with me. I still had to hold on to him, but I figured out a way for him to be less dependent on me. I just hold the handle on the harness gently to give him more control of his skis. We were planning on signing him up for lessons, but he was not ready. For now, we just ski and spend time together.

Đạo took my snowboard and gave it a try. He did really well. He joined us on the green slope even though he just started it. It looked like skateboarding helped him with snowboarding. If I can’t learn to snowboard, he can take over my board and boots.

For the last hour before the lift closed, I took Đán and Xuân on the blue and black slopes. We ventured into the black, ungroomed terrains. There were moguls and rocks everywhere. We made our way down and out, but my ski bases were scratched up. I will need to patch them up when I get back home.

First Skiing Week of the Season at Okemo

We arrived in Vermont on Saturday night; therefore, we slept in a bit. We didn’t get to Okemo until 10 am on Sunday. Somehow I thought the World Cup final was scheduled for 2 pm instead of 10 am. I missed the whole game. Oh well, congratulations to Argentina nevertheless.

Okemo was not as crowded as I had expected on a Sunday. The World Cup might be the reason. Đạo, Đán, Xuân and I did two runs on the blue and black slopes. I skied with Vương on the green slopes. He wanted me to hold him instead of using the harness. Đán complained his pair of snowboard boots was too tight. He used mine instead.

On Monday, we didn’t get to the resort until 11 am. I took Vương for a run on the green slope so my wife could practice a bit on the bunny slope. Vương was hungry and wanted to eat. I took him in and made him an instant noodle cup. I did one more run with him before I headed to the blue and black slopes with my older boys.

Đán wouldn’t give up my snowboard boots; therefore, I won’t be able to learn snowboarding this week. I am just going to enjoy skiing for now. I’ll learn how to snowboard when we come back home.

We were having a great time even though we were exhausted by the evening.

I am Beat

After taking my oldest son to school yesterday, I headed straight to Bryce Resort. I was the first person there and only a few more showed up afterward. I strapped on my snowboard and hit the absolute beginner magic carpet. I kept falling off at the end of the bell. I switched to my goofy stance and it seemed to be better. I learned to skate with one foot first.

My lesson plan was to learn the heel and toe brakes, but it didn’t turn out that way. The board didn’t go straight down for me to learn to brake. So I had to go wherever the board took me. I fell quite a bit the first two hours. I switched to skiing. I had new skis and boots. The boots killed my feet. I need to get them molded.

I went back to snowboarding in the afternoon. I started to get the link turns using Malcom Moore’s lever techniques. I left the resort around 2:30 pm because I was completely beat. Even though I fell on my butt a lot, my butt was not in pain thanks to Bodyprox protective padded shorts. The shoulders and my knees were so painful afterward. I couldn’t do much else for the rest of the night.

Contact