day 50. snowboarding. sunday river. 2/2.

what will probably be my last day on the magic carpet turned out to be a fun one. kasmira didn't ski today because she stayed home from school sick. i have the same cold but fuck it. why would i want to stay home? early in the day i saw a very attractive woman in her 20s come up the carpet on her board looking as scared as if she was on white heat. her friend who was a little better than her took off and went down pretty much without making a turn. i realized her friend wasn't going to be much help so i went out and talked to her. apparently, she had taken a lesson but hadn't made much progress and was very sore from all the falls she had taken. the snow is very hard from all the cold weather and soft snow is definitely better for learning to ride. i promised to help her if i could. she picked her way down very defensively, keeping her weight way back and turning into a toe turn stop if she got up any speed at all. she clearly couldn't make a heel turn at all. she was also in a deep crouch so if she started to fall into her toe turn she could put her hands down so she wouldn't fall. when she made it to the bottom she was joined by what appeared to be her boyfriend and when they came up i asked if it was alright if i gave her some pointers. i told her it was obvious she was terrified of falling, which was understandable, but that by leaning way back all the time she was sacrificing any chance at all she had of gaining any control because she was lifting her edge out of the snow instead of driving it into the snow. i told her when she got to the bottom to find a flat spot where she wouldn't start moving and just practice moving her weight around forwards, backwards and from side to side just so she could get used to centering herself over her board better.
i wound up getting the early break and headed up the chondola to ride. came down escapade and broadway twice and it was just awesome. definitely my best two runs on a board all season. i was feeling it. also had no lunch so i went into the lodge for a slice of pizza.
courtney was still at it when i got back. not quite as terrified but still riding so defensively it was hard for her to make any progress. eventually they went in for lunch and i wondered if they would ever come back. eventually they did and after she took one run i realized she was going to have to try something different or she just wasn't going to get it. today was her last day and since she lives in long island access to a mountain again wasn't going to be readily accessible. i told her since she was so afraid to go on her heel edge to try taking one run all the way down on her heel edge, just leaning back on it with the brakes on the whole time. she started to dig that heal edge in and skootch the board back and forth and was able to control her speed that way and low and behold when she got to the flatter part she actually briefly turned into a toe turn and then made her first heel turn. she then tried a toe turn caught an edge and allowed herself to fall for the first time of the day. her boyfriend turned back up and when they came up she was all smiles and told me that had really helped. i commented on her first heel turn and asked her if the fall hurt and she said not really. i told her that like it or not falling was part of learning. anyway, her boyfriend stayed with her for the rest of the day and suddenly i guess she finally felt like she wasn't racing out of control every time she moved and actually started to ride. within an hour she was all smiles and connecting turns and everything. the day came to an end and they both thanked me for my help. it was all really kind of sweet. when i was headed to the explorer i ran into them all again in the parking lot with more friends of theirs and they treated me like i was some kind of celebrity. it really made me feel good to know courtney was going home feeling like she had actually accomplished something in part because of me. the fact that she had this completely amazing smile was certainly an added bonus. and i t was a nice way to end what was probably my last day on the carpet as the next day i started my full-time tsbr duties.