Hardcore (436 hits)
Category: UberMadness! EntryRating: 1.2 on 6 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Crystle (View user info) at 2006-11-20 23:08:47 EST
This post was an official UberMadness! entry. Click here to view the original matchup.
The air is still, sharp with the bite of winter. A layer of powder has fallen overnight, covering the mountain in a thick blanket. Here above the tree line the acres stretch out a vast field seemingly untouched by man. Wind whistles over the rocks, jutting grey monuments fiercely refusing to be buried. The clear blue sky allows the sun to bounce blindingly off the snow and the entire mountain glimmers and winks.
As the helicopter hovers low over the broad field of snow, the last minute doubts set in. Board strapped to his feet, Todd teeters on the threshold, looking out. A tug to check the straps, a thumbs-up to the pilot and he jumps.
It's a full body shock when he lands, temporarily numbing his legs completely. The board strapped to his feet slips and slides, threatening to overturn and deposit him summarily in the snow. After skillfully fighting the inertia using his body as a counter weight, Todd succeeds in planting his board in a secure position while he pauses to catch the breath stolen during the drop from the bird.
At 1200 feet, Todd is on the highest mountain he has ever attempted to board down. There are no ski-lifts, gondolas, or medic stations here. The ski resort with its lodge and crowds of recreationalists is a small speck far lower down on the next ridge. As the sound of the helicopter fades in the distance, there is no sign of any other human. Being alone on a mountain is at once a hugely thrilling and yet very humbling thing.
Todd savors the moment, feeling truly alive. He looks over the panorama and realizes one more time how very small he - and all mankind - really is. A hawk screams as it flies over the ridge, and the sound echoes but the silence that swallows it seems somehow louder.
Looking down the mountain, Todd sees the white drifts, and then the smudge of dark that signifies the beginning of the tree line. He has studied pictures of this slope, but from this vantage point can't make out the slight unmarked pathway between outcroppings of rock and bunches of trees that he will be heading down at speeds nearing 50 mph, possibly exceeding that in larger icier clearings.
His adrenaline is already pumping from the jump and now he's ready for the ultimate rush. Carving an untouched area, leaving a mark that will be visible for miles, untouchable by the masses below, ethereal in its own way. Immortality gained can be such a fleeting thing.
Final check of the bindings, zippers, snaps, goggles, and Todd leans back, heel-side cutting into the snow and beginning the long downward glide.
At the lodge that night, Todd's commentary was: "I made that mountain my bitch! I was like floating down the side of the mountain, like the board just knows what it's doing and I'm along for the ride, a few moguls, and then out of nowhere...a tree...and then... WOAH... I totally had to jump a ravine. It was hardcore, best rush ever. I was flying forever - I'm wrecked, man! Wind and sunburn everywhere - see? I stopped a few times to rest for 10 minutes, piss, replenish my fluids, but I'm completely dehydrated and my legs are totally cramping. You should do it. Shredding the top of an untouched mountain...Man, no words, no words. You hafta rent a 'copter to drop you at the top, but my friend Jeremy knows this guy who flies for the Army, and he'll drop you during one of his maneuvers for not too much scratch. It's seriously sweet, rocks even more than any half-pipe. I've flown with the gods, man... "
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Submitted by ArnieGeddon (user info) at 2008-04-08 19:57:10 EDT (#)
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