By we I mean me. http://livingontherun.uber.com/main

So the last time I went up to Sunshine was about three weeks ago, and sadly it was the last time I’ll ride this season.  It was a brilliant day though, and am if the season has to end, I’m glad that Thursday was my last day up.

I went riding with Ada (who pushed me down the mountain my first day up, her and I go all the way back to Toronto), Johnno (who I rode with at least once a week, pushed me a lot and because of whom I got a lot better) and JD (who knows Sunshine like the back of his hand and took us to some brilliant spots both in and out of the resorts boundaries).  Plus we also managed to ride with Debbie does Rentals (who works on the mountain, in you guessed it, Rentals) and a friend of hers from work during their lunch break.

Over-night there had been about 10cm of snow so the morning was full of hikes looking for fresh powder plus hitting some of our favourite spots (the best run I’d had through side-door which is both a source of big fun and many tree and rock dings in my board, and a wee hike up into the trees off a chair-lift called Wolverine).

We’d had enough of hiking so in the early afternoon we headed up Goats Eye (which is the best time for that part of the mountain, the early afternoon sun finally hits the face of the mountain and softens up the snow a lot), JD was playing tour guide basically and took us on his favourite run which involves heading down a fairly easy black run before cutting across South Side Chutes (which is marked as double-black), ducking the rope into back-country and into what he called the secret field of powder.  We had fresh tracks for about 600 metres in waist deep powder which was probably the best run I’d done at Sunshine.

I was feeling good and JD was giving me some tips on how to "better read the snow" in order to go a lot faster through chopped-up, nasty snow.  We did a few more runs down Goats Eye and were discussing on the chair-lift up how we should stop for a coffee and relax a bit before toning everything down in the afternoon and maybe focusing on finding some kickers and just doing some jumps.

So we took off down the Goat, I was at the front of the pack, admittedly going far too fast for the conditions and my ability.  I was going down a black run, when I went across a mogul which I hadn’t seen, got unexpected sideways air, tumbled, causing the front tip of my board to get stuck in some fresh snow, the momentum making me rotate my hip and twist my right knee.

When JD caught up to me I was sitting on the side of the mountain, covered in snow, hyper-ventalating.  JD had a big smile on his face which quickly dissapeared and he told me he was going to go and get the ski-patrol - I told him not too, and after catching my breath, very slowly rode off the mountain.

After a week of not really being able to walk and another of a niggling pain out of my knee I finally went to the doctor and was told that I had partially torn my MCL.  Not the worst news, and with some bike riding, walking and about a month of taking it fairly easy it should be all good.

So now its all about next season - saving some money to buy some new equipment (definitely new bindings, hopefully a whole new set-up), a multi-mountain pass and hopefully riding every day.

Life is still good.

P.S. This will probably be the last time I write before my semi-triumphant return home. 

See you soon.