i've tried this a few times

This is probably my fourth or fifth blog attempt. But I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm just not that technical, not that insightful, and if I'm going to blog, it should be about the things I do and enjoy doing! Maybe this one will stay.

This blog will be mainly about my work-aside passions: snowboarding (winter), paddling (dragonboat: mostly spring and summer, although we do practice year-round) and climbing (anytime i'm not doing the previous two). I may throw in a little hockey, once my leg heals enough. The last time I played hockey, the result was an ankle sprain and a fractured fibula! But that's no reason to give it up for good.

snowboarding
I snowboarded for the first time in winter 2002-03. This happened in the northeast US, so I learned mostly in the ice and wind of Killington, sometimes making it up to Sunday River and Jay Peak. I now live in Los Angeles, where the nearby peaks are less ice and wind and more slush and sun: Snow Summit, Bear and Moutain High. And when I'm lucky, it's Mammoth. =D

paddling
My buddy Emily got me to try this out in July 2007. Our team is the Space Dragons, and they are my second family. My first tournament was in Tempe, March 2008.

climbing
This is the sport I've kept at the longest, but I've been the least disciplined about it, sometimes going for months on end without it. The first time I ever climbed was in Paris, on the campus of l'Ecole Polytechnique, actually! I was there in the spring of 2003 for a semester abroad, and got to try out climbing (l'escalade, ou grimper) as my sports activity. I'm probably extremely lucky that my first outdoors climbing experience was in Fontainebleu, but I hadn't progressed enough to know that. Now, 6 years later, I might be able to appreciate the climbs there, but I haven't really made it past V2.

I recently purchased "Training for Climbing" by Eric Horst (recommended by Javier), and so far it's already surprised me that my weakness seems to be my physical ability, not my mental and psychological preparedness. So, a little more training in and out of the gym, and then perhaps I'll be able to take on Fontainebleu!