The End Of A Hillside Hiatus

A Twenty Year Snowboarding Pause Ends

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This afternoon I scribbled this missive as I was surrounded by a sea of colorfully adorned and slightly damp section of humanity:

Lookout Pass straddles the border of Idaho and Montana and is home to the second oldest ski lodge in the Pacific Northwest. All of this slopetastic detail was swirling in my powder awed mind as we made our way through the fiberglass ski and board bedecked throng to claim our modes of slide. This hillside occasion was special as it was my kid's first time snowboarding. It might have well been my first time sliding across the floof too, for I hadn't been on a board in exactly twenty years.

Boards, boots, and bindings rented, my crew and I scampered toward the bunny hill with all the grace of a newborn fawn astride rollerblades. Boards secured wrongly with improper feet forward, we lumbered our way out onto the little lift that served the beginner hill. I think my quads and glutes were not appreciative of my first attempt down the gentle slope. My daughter and son, however, took to boarding like they do most things, with some athletic grace in the style of a bull in a china closet. It was while I was sitting on my rump on the bunny hill, remembering fondly that I, at one time, could snowboard rather well, that one of the ski instructors took pity on my pathetic, nostalgic form.

"Come on, Miss, stand up!"

A man wearing a ski school instructor jacket who was old enough to be my grandfather admonished me suddenly with snow-scholarly authority.

"Yes, sir!" I blurted catching myself before I said, "Yes, Grandpa."

"Straighten your legs, lean back! Don't use your hands, and for Flake's sake look where you're going, not where you're at!"

I must have been a somewhat passable non-student, for in that moment my long dormant muscle memory checked in and I slalomed down the hillside with almost grace.

"Great job girl! Steer from the belly button! Use your hips!" Ski Grandpa barked at me with what sounded a lot like pride in his voice.

And so with each ride on the chair and glide down the hill did my confidence ever grow and skill rapidly return. I remembered that I loved snowboarding, and as I looked up and beheld the joy emanating from my children's faces as they carved the mountainside, I vowed to not let 20 more years elapse between trips to the slope!

The bunny slope lift attendant was the greatest person ever! He was so awesome to everyone, especially the kids, with tips, tricks, songs, and good humor throughout the entire seven hours that we played on the hillside!

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Recommendation Station: If you are looking for a non-pretentious, powder-rich, magnificently staffed place to go skiing or snowboarding in the North Idaho Panhandle, I wholeheartedly recommend Lookout Pass. It's worth the drive for the nostalgia factor alone, as they whole place is like stepping into snow-sports yesteryear!

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