March. The cold spell is slowly dissapating, but it was still chilly today. My back hurt all day but i rode a lot, trying to work it out. I rode over to Jackson Gore and back, then in the afternoon i joined some of the ski instructors who were videotaping thier skiing, so i got videoed.

Warmer today. Snow is getting scraped off and packed. Back still hurts but i went the whole day without pain killers.

Woke up at about 4 AM because my back hurt. Took some ibuprofin, read for a while, then fitfully slept until 9:00. I'm wondering if it's more than just a sprain or pull.

Took the dogs over to Buttermilk Falls, which was totally iced over.

Got kinda sick of the lack of enthusiasm on the part of the snowboard instructors. None of 'em wanted to work and they were moaning about having to work. Geez.

That evening when i let the dogs out, there was a guy a couple houses over with his little punt-dog out and Seera ran over there and they barked at each other and the guy flipped out and yelled at me and eventually came over and got right in my face saying that if he saw me out with my dogs not on a leash, he'd shoot them. Ugh.

My back hurt a lot today. Very annoying. But i did go ride a while with a bunch of other supervisors and managers. I was on a board, they were all on telemark skis.

Walked the dogs along a VAST trail off of Commonwealth Rd. It ended on the top of a hill that overlooked Okemo. You can also see Killington and Ascutney from there.

Back hurt. Didn't do much, but i did take a couple runs through a slalom course that Gordon had set up. After work i stopped by In-Touch Massage Therapy and got a deep, and sometimes painful, massage. First time i've ever had a professional massage. We'll see if it helps.

Nope.

Ran upper line-ups today. Zero lessons.

Woke up in pain yet again and decided to go to the health clinic. The doctor tested my back muscles and said that everything was fine and that i should have some physical therapy, so i got an appointment for the early afternoon. The physical therapist identified one vertebra that was out of alignment and worked it back into place. I have to be careful with it for a few days until it stays there and all the swelling goes down. She told me not to do anything where i have to look to the right for long periods of time. Like, uh, riding a snowboard goofy-footed? Yeah.

Rode along with Rob on day 1 of a 2-day AASI Level 1 exam. I rode fakie (switch) most of the day.

On my way to work, i got a flat on my unicycle. The tire was pretty much worn through, so after work (since the local bike store was closed) i drove over to Claremont, NH to a Wal-Mart there. Unfortunately, they had no 24" x 1.75" tires, so i bought a 24" x 2", which was a little tight in the frame, but moved.

I filled up the unicycle tire at the Mobil station and it became very hard to move. I rode it to work, but it was pretty tough going. I switched back to the old tire that night.

I rode fakie all day again with the AASI Level 1 exam. It rained a little bit, but it was a good weekend.

Rained most of the day. I did NOT wake up early in the morning today, and my back wasn't in pain all day.

Kieran, the liftie in front, actually stopped the lift (with people on it) so that i could take this picture.

Had a second appointment with the physical therapist. She gave me some exercises to strengthen my achy (but less achy than before) back. Took the dogs over to Buttermilk Falls, which were raging.

Short staffed today. I got called over to Jackson Gore to run 10:30 and 11:30 private line-ups since all of their supervisors were teaching classes. I rode over there carefully so as not to hurt my back again. In the afternoon i taught the first half-hour of a level 1 lesson (1 kid) until Nicole finished with a private lesson and took over mine.

Busy day, no staff. I taught a 9:30 1-hour private, then taught the second half of a level-3 group lesson that Rob was teaching. In the afternoon we had one instructor at lineup. I taught an afternoon level-2 lesson of 3 adults and one kid.

Another physical therapy appointment. Back feels pretty OK. Took the dogs over to Okemo State Forest on beyond Buttermilk Falls.

Lots of instructors didn't show up for work today, but everything was manageable. Aaron left early so that he could drive down to Stratton for the US Open Snowboarding Championships, leaving just Dan and me to run things on the snowboarding side.

Cold day, but we got about 2 inches of snow. I taught a 1-hour private lesson in the afternoon because we ran out of instructors.

Nice slow day. I took 2 base runs.

Day off. Went to the doctor's for a follow-up visit. He told me to keep up with physical therapy. Chris Saylor came over and we went over a bunch of the video he shot this year for the end-of-season video show.

It's finally getting warm. I ran a clinic today on low, aggressive turns.

Thursday off this week since Aaron won't be in tomorrow. I walked the dogs over by Buttermilk Falls and not only did i manage to break through the ice at the edge of the river, soaking all of one pant leg and half my butt, but i also smashed my camera on a rock and doused it in the water as well, pretty much ending its servicable life. Oh well, one step towards simplifying my life.

I took the ice pic above a few seconds before i broke through the ice. The pic of the river is where i broke through.

Really warm and slushy on the hill today. My friend Jen arrived after work. We walked over to American Pie (in the rain) and had a pizza for dinner.

I alternated between running line-ups and teaching Jen how to snowboard. She did quite well but got tired and fearful of falling toward the end of the day. We went to the Okemo employee party in the evening and ate free bad pizza then came home and watched Princess Mononoke (interspersed among about an hour of commercials) on TV.

Jen got better today and left after lunch. I didn't do much riding.

Slow day. Rode the slush and took pictures. I taught an afternoon level-2 lesson of 1 guy so that all the other instructors could go ride.

Our door had said IAN ADAM MIKE for a long time but Mike put this note up when he ordered pizza.

Worked on the end-of-season video. Had my last physical therapy session. Drove to Wallingford and played some ultimate with the kids there.

No lessons. Helped pack up all the stuff from the upper meeting area. In the afternoon a bunch of us went up to the fire tower, then did some good bump riding over on South Face.

No lessons again. I left early so that i could go over to Wallingford again and play more ultimate. Not as many people there this time, but still fun.

Spent the day getting the end-of-season video ready. Took the dogs over to the VAST trail at the end of West Hill Drive, then hung out by the Wernick House where the supervisors were barbequeing.