In the halfpipe

I rode a little halfpipe the other day. No, it wasn’t anything spectacular, and it may even have been not up to form. But progression is progression.

The first pipe is natural, shallow, and short. It’s perhaps 3 feet tall from the deepest part of the pipe, and half the width of a conventional pipe. I took this twice.

The second pipe is a monster. It’s at least 9 feet tall (maybe 12 feet), 15 feet wide, and I don’t know how long.

A fellow I met on the lift suggested I simply ride down the middle, and look at it. I did, and was amazed.

The second time through I played off the sides just a little bit. Emphasize “little.” My trips up the “wall” were at the most two feet. I was afraid of getting up too much speed–and falling too far down into the transition area–to get up any higher. The key to learning the halfpipe, like anything else in riding, is one step at a time.