Learning when to quit
On topic, eventually, so bear with me.

I've always had an issue with closing time, so to speak. When the party finally dies down, I'm usually still up drinking. When the bar announces last call, I'm usually grabbing another couple pints. When the vacation is over, I put off leaving as long as possible. You get the idea.

This has allowed some rather painful experiences, as snowboarding is one of my all-time favourite hobbies. It's an expensive sport, and I don't get to go all that frequently, so when I do go, I try to make the best of my time. Spend most of the day getting back into the groove. Slowly build up to bigger tricks, harder hills, higher drops, etc. When the resort finally announces last run (as they're closing the lifts) I take the opportunity to attempt something I didn't have the balls to attempt earlier in the day.

This particular occasion takes us back to when I was in high school (insert wavy lines). It was nearing the end of the day, and I had been boarding with a somewhat large group of less than sober individuals. Calling each other on tricks and upping the ante all day. Finally, last run is called. I, ignoring that nervous twinge in my gut, decide to try something that will put "the boys" to shame.

See, there was this quarterpipe (I would say made of snow, but ice is a better description) and at the top of the quarterpipe were these 2 drums (the kind you'd see a tramp burning stuff in to keep warm) stacked one atop the other. All day "the boys" had been going up the pipe and tapping their boards/skis on these drums, getting higher and higher but never quite getting past halfway up. For some reason, I decided I would just jump over the barrels and magically land unscathed on the other side, riding away into my glory.

I gather everyone round, and line up for it. It's late in the day so unfortunately my mate Shawn (and we had argued about this) had put the camcorder away and was dead set on leaving it away as I "wouldn't actually do it." Angered, I begin to ride down towards my ticket to high school fame, picking up plenty of speed on the way. I fly up the quarterpipe and leave the comforting embrace of earth. Unfortunately (and you all saw this coming), at the critical moment where I was leaving the quarterpipe, I didn't push off. This caused the painful scenario of events to unfold. I didn't quite have enough distance between my board and the 2 drums. As I was passing overtop, my board clipped the lip of the top drum. This threw my upper body forward and sent me flying over "a la superman". It also sent me crashing down onto the hardened icy snowballs that fall off behind snow quarterpipes "a la superman-with-the-intention-of-breaking-something-with-his-face".

When black faded back to white and began to come into focus again, everyone was hysterical. Not only "the boys" but also most of my school who were finishing their final run nearby, as well as my sister and her large group of friends who just happened to be passing. And what should I hear but my mate Shawn screaming, between hearty chortling: "I wish I would have recorded that!"

Length: About 14ft high and 3ft across
(Turtlenuts, Thu 21 Jan 2010, 16:13, Reply)