I had gone snow tubing with this same crew of friends the year before. It was a blast. You rode a conveyor belt to the top of the hill, chose a lane and down you went. If you were going too fast you could drag your feet to slow down. There were four lanes. The first and closest lane to the conveyor belt looked like the straight down water slides I had avoided my entire childhood, the second had a big S turn in the middle and steep side walls, the third had a few small hills along the run and the last was a bunny slope with a subtle incline.
The smallest of the children shamed us away from the bunny slope, thus we started at lane three. I went second to last. I'll be honest, I'm not the most adventurous man in the world. I've done my fair share of crazy stuff over the last thirty years. Now I like to pick and choose where to push my luck.
That year everyone made it down the hill safe and sound. Before the day was out we were taking running starts, shooting off the jumps, skimming the walls...I even went down backwards on the double tube.
So when my friends little sister, who also noticed the brown patches and glistening snow, asked if this was OK and relatively safe I answered of course. I wouldn't be there if it wasn't. I suggested we watch a few people go down the hill so she could see for herself.
The first two people we watched went down no problem. Then a small girl from our group went down the second lane. She took off like a bullet but instead of skimming the side wall she was climbing up it...backwards and she was letting go of the tube. She sailed into the sky. Spun. Separated completely from her tube. Crashed into the ground below. Bounced once. Landed again and didn't move.
I looked around and there was no one but myself and my friend's sister whose eyes were now bigger than dinner plates.
Her- Is she ok?
Me- (taking another peek down the hill) Probably not.
Her- What do we do?
Me- I don't know if anyone down there can see her.
That was when I realized what the problem was...the snow had melted earlier and now a sheen of ice covered the lanes. Thankfully someone down there saw what happened and was able to help her up and off the lane. Both the first and bunny lanes were muddied out so we could only choose between the middle two lanes. After explaining the ice situation and the need to drag legs and keep slow we decided the second lane was still our best bet. She wanted to go first. She went right down the middle, no problem, and now I was alone at the top. No other way down. I grabbed my tube, hugged it tight and went down the slope.
I couldn't believe how fast I was picking up speed and I was heading for the side wall. I dragged my legs but they just bounced uselessly off the hard snow like a pebble skimming the surface of a pond. For one fleeting second, as my tube climbed up the side wall, I thought about letting go. I was pretty sure I was going for a flight anyways, maybe bailing early was a good idea. Thankfully I held on and gravity prevailed.
When I reached bottom I could tell my legs were banged up. Half the group didn't notice the big fall or the icy conditions and continued to tube. The other half were sitting it out for a few. Most had bruised legs like I did. The girl who fell said her head and back hurt but that she was fine. When the rest of the group noticed our absence they found us on the benches. There was less than an hour of tube time left, we decided to wait it out while the others enjoyed a few more runs.
A few minutes later a tuber staggered by with his lower face looking like something out of a horror movie.
A few minutes after that our group checked in again, assuring us that they had seen no one else get hurt. It was just a little more slippery than usual. Aghast at what we had just witnessed we opted to stay put while they took a final run.
It was night of the living dead in scarves and mittens out there. One by one another injured tuber limped, hobbled or crawled by. All mumbling about ice, flying and pain.
Snow tubing is fun, ice tubing...not so much. We're going again this year, I'll let you all know how it goes.
The first two people we watched went down no problem. Then a small girl from our group went down the second lane. She took off like a bullet but instead of skimming the side wall she was climbing up it...backwards and she was letting go of the tube. She sailed into the sky. Spun. Separated completely from her tube. Crashed into the ground below. Bounced once. Landed again and didn't move.
I looked around and there was no one but myself and my friend's sister whose eyes were now bigger than dinner plates.
Her- Is she ok?
Me- (taking another peek down the hill) Probably not.
Her- What do we do?
Me- I don't know if anyone down there can see her.
That was when I realized what the problem was...the snow had melted earlier and now a sheen of ice covered the lanes. Thankfully someone down there saw what happened and was able to help her up and off the lane. Both the first and bunny lanes were muddied out so we could only choose between the middle two lanes. After explaining the ice situation and the need to drag legs and keep slow we decided the second lane was still our best bet. She wanted to go first. She went right down the middle, no problem, and now I was alone at the top. No other way down. I grabbed my tube, hugged it tight and went down the slope.
I couldn't believe how fast I was picking up speed and I was heading for the side wall. I dragged my legs but they just bounced uselessly off the hard snow like a pebble skimming the surface of a pond. For one fleeting second, as my tube climbed up the side wall, I thought about letting go. I was pretty sure I was going for a flight anyways, maybe bailing early was a good idea. Thankfully I held on and gravity prevailed.
When I reached bottom I could tell my legs were banged up. Half the group didn't notice the big fall or the icy conditions and continued to tube. The other half were sitting it out for a few. Most had bruised legs like I did. The girl who fell said her head and back hurt but that she was fine. When the rest of the group noticed our absence they found us on the benches. There was less than an hour of tube time left, we decided to wait it out while the others enjoyed a few more runs.
A few minutes later a tuber staggered by with his lower face looking like something out of a horror movie.
A few minutes after that our group checked in again, assuring us that they had seen no one else get hurt. It was just a little more slippery than usual. Aghast at what we had just witnessed we opted to stay put while they took a final run.
It was night of the living dead in scarves and mittens out there. One by one another injured tuber limped, hobbled or crawled by. All mumbling about ice, flying and pain.
Snow tubing is fun, ice tubing...not so much. We're going again this year, I'll let you all know how it goes.
Another great post!
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