K and I went to Mt. Hood yesterday and enjoyed an afternoon on the slopes. I decided to board and K chose to ski. And after a two hour lesson, we got the hang of it and owned those slopes.
Mt. Hood Meadows was amazing. The staff and teachers were helpful and the experience turned out to be better than I’d expected. I also made out with fewer bruises and breaks that I’d imagined too. This was my first time snowboarding so I experienced a lot of trial and error runs. But like I said the instructors were great. And although the lesson was only two hours and the instructor only covered a few basics (on slope heel and toe slides), this was really all I needed to get up and running. I fell a few million times before it finally clicked though. Sliding really was similar to balancing on a bicycle, you can’t go too slow or else you’ll fall over. It’s all about balancing on the edge and sliding, yep, that’s it. Real easy. I can’t wait to go back.
Because we didn’t have any equipment, we had to purchase all of the necessities. And I thought this would be a great opportunity to share those items with you in case you’re planning a trip to the mountains and you’re clueless about what you’ll need.
The list:
- Socks – We bought the smart wool types and they worked great. (from REI)
- Ski jacket - We got lucky and got these free from a friend that used to work Solstice. Jackets can cost a bunch. Ours are down insulated and kind of looks like this. I’d just make sure your jacket is waterproof. You can always pile layers underneath.
- A sweater or hoodie - I decided to wear a natural fiber hoodie underneath my coat and that worked out great. And under that I just wore a t-shirt.
- Ski pants - Kate and I lucked and found some used. If you’re planning ahead and you don’t want to sink a lot of money into these, I’d go for craigslist or ebay. That’s what we did and it worked out great.
- Midweight bottoms - Depending on whether or not your pants are insulated, you might want to cover your legs with some long underwear. I have something like this and they worked great. Here’s a pair that I found on sale at Eddie Bauer.
- Gloves - These get pricey. We ended up picking up a couple of pair at REI. If you’re really cheap and your hands aren’t the size of Patrick Ewing’s you can buy a boy’s X-Large and pay half the price of a men’s size.
- Goggles - We were cheap and didn’t buy any. We were regretting this after the sun went down and the wind picked up. I’m considering this a must buy for the next trip.
We rented everything else.
