The second Nelson Unladylike Ladies ride on February 2, 2013, really was magical. As we prepared our machines at the Giveout staging area minutes from Nelson, B.C., I felt almost giddy. The sun was warm and the sky blue.
The ladies kept filing in; some were flying solo, like our baby momma Andrea Hand. She is a remarkable woman and an excellent rider, who just happens to be pregnant. Under strict instructions by her doctor, Hand is enjoying every ounce of this pregnancy—including epic braaap time.
A new face on the scene this ride was Mallory. It was her second time ever riding in the mountains. Quite new to sledding, you could see her butterflies and nerves surfacing. Everyone was quick to reach out to our new rider. Brianne, who was the newest rider last time, seemed to come alive as she reached out to Mallory. I was touched by the display of sisterhood.
When we arrived at our first play spot I almost fell over. How could this be? Fresh dry pow. Awesome snow. I had just been up Giveout only days before and the snow was hurting. Ullr, you are amazing. Thank you for blessing this day! We all laughed—the two sunniest days of this ride season have both been on our ladies rides. High five Ullr, good game slap on the bum.
We had a little bit of braaap camp to start the day off with Brianne and Mallory. They practised getting their sled on edge. They did awesome! Mallory confessed that her comfort zone was flat ground. That lasted about half an hour. Up and at 'er girl, we’re moving on. We had Mallory climbing in no time. As long as she had someone to follow up, she was good to go. Mimicking the body movements of the rider before her boosted her confidence and provided the blueprint she needed to get to the top.
Kristin and Candice again were not only excellent guides, but they provided our humour for the day. As close as sisters, these two keep you laughing the entire day, even when unfortunate events occur.
Candice’s over-the-handlebar dismount off of her RMK Pro Chuck Norris left all of us rolling in laughter. She takes it with a grain of salt and puts on her Sad Panda toque, reserved for such times as these.
Epic photographer Heidi, a.k.a. our Grandma Bettie, rocked it, as did her buddy Dianne, who also was on her first Unladylike Ladies Ride. There were many spills, combined with giggles, as well as hugs and ski tugs. That is what makes our ladies rides so memorable—the love that goes into each adventure.
Mallory had good things to say about the Nelson Unladylike Ladies Ride. She wrote:
“This past Saturday, I was lucky enough to go sledding with some of the lady shredders from the Nelson area. Being as this would be about my second ride out in the mountains ever, needless to say, I was pretty nervous beforehand! Turns out, I had no reason to be worried at all. Everyone on the ride was happy to help me out and give me all sorts of handy tips that had worked for them when they had just started out and encouraged me to push myself. Not to mention those ladies totally blew my mind with their riding—guys, better watch out!
One of the best feelings of the day wasn't even making it up The Big Scary Hill (though that felt pretty darn good too), it was picking a little line to go up a hill, sticking to that line the whole way up and coming out on the top exactly where I wanted to be and totally in control!
Riding with these girls was awesome. I learned so much and everything stayed fun, even as I was digging my sled out of some rather significant trenches. Turns out now, I’m totally hooked and I plan to make it to as many of these rides as possible!
