Snowboarding (Ötscher, Niederösterreich)

Yesterday I woke up at 6:45 (something that happens VERY rarely) to go snowboarding at Ötscher, about an hour and a half, by car, from Vienna. Christian drove, and manchester (Sleepy) John completed our trio. As I mentioned here a couple of months ago, I recently purchased a Burton snowboard, with bindings and Burton boots.

This was my first time using my very own board, and I had a blast. I have snowboarded before, but am not particularly good at it. I'm better at snow skiing, but I've wanted to pick up boarding for a while. In the past few years, I've gone snowboarding once or twice per season (both in Austria, and in the States when I'm usually home for Christmas holidays).

I've always used rental boards in the past, so I've had a different setup each time. I'm excited about having my own board. I think that using the same good equipment with the same settings consistently will help me improve my technique.

I started out a little slow yesterday, but by midday, was feeling pretty confident, and getting some pretty good turns in. The conditions were so-so. It's been unseasonably warm this week in Austria, so we had a mix of slush and ice, but I've definitely snowboarded and skiied in worse conditions.

I made it back to my apartment in Vienna at around 18:30 (6:30 PM), where I took a long, hot sauna, followed by a nice hot shower and a quiet evening relaxing at my place.

So, I've got 4 photos for you. Christian took them all with his Canon Ixus 400, a handy, pocket-sized camera that takes some nice shots and is much more practical to carry around than my big Digital Rebel. We only took a few photos, since this was a daytrip. I'll try to get some more next time we hit the slopes.

Me on my snowboard. With my bright yellow ski jacket (purchased at Wal Mart in Montana last year), I was one of the most visible snowboarders on the slopes.

We took the obligatory lunch and beer break at about noon. They were showing Skiing World Championship events live on the TV's there. From left to right: Christian, John, Me.

Can you tell that I had fun that day? from left to right: Christian, Me, John.

Christian and I on the lift.