Crystal Mountain recently installed a giant air bag. They put it underneath a jump so that people much younger than me can practice their jumps without much fear of injury. I just had to know what it felt like so last weekend Tyla and I went down to Crystal along with a couple friends from work, Andy and Aim.
Andy and I tried to come up with excuses for most of the day, but eventually our egos got the best of us. We paid our $5 for 2 jumps each and signed away all our rights.
The ramp was about 9 feet high and it wasn’t just a big wedge. It had a curve to it. Seeing all of the other people going off it and throwing backflips should have been a clue that the jump wasn’t going to be easy to go straight off of. The first time off, I tried to lean forward but I still ended up far on my back. The landing was smooth though so I climbed back up the hill to try again. The second time was way worse. This time I crouched a little bit with a plan to hop right at the top. The little pop helps keep you straight in the air. But I really underestimated the force that the ramp would exert as it through me up into the air. My slightly bent knees compressed all the way so that my head was between my knees when I went off the jump. It actually knocked the wind out of me! Style for miles.
So I looked completely ridiculous, but I’m happy that I did it. When I finished I said I’d never try it again, but the pain is already starting to fade in my memory and of course now I think I should try it again but this time I should attempt a backflip. There’s always next year.
And since I have no pride, here’s a video. The skier is me and the snowboarder is Andy. He fared much better than I did. The noise you hear in the background is the generator running to power the fans that keep the bag inflated.