“Okay, I hear you. I have a question for you: how come you weren’t fed today?”
“Devin got me up at 5:30 this morning so that we would be on the slopes by 6:00. He taught me how to snowboard. Then when he was done, it was time for me to go for the morning shoot. There were no breaks in my schedule until eight o’clock tonight. I asked for food and water this morning. I even called Clare, and she gave me attitude. I figured I’d see her. I eventually called Kendal at 11:00, and she was having brunch with Clare and Devin.”
“Where are the girls right now?”
I really didn’t know.
“My best guess is they’re at the resort. I’m in a Jeep going to the next shoot. I haven’t seen them since they walked in after your call.”
We agreed to meet for breakfast in the morning before I got started. I would need to get someone to take me into town. I would talk to Sandy to get it arranged.
THE REST OF THE DRIVE I collected myself and got ready. We got to the lift and the driver rode up with me, then we snowboarded down to where we needed to be. He put his cell phone on speaker so Bev could talk to me.
“I need you to get up to speed and do big S-turns using the whole slope. I have a big red pole behind me. Try to focus on me as you come down, and I need you to look like you’re having fun.”
The pressure was on because once I went, the snow would no longer be virgin. I heard the countdown: ‘Three, two, one.’
They wouldn’t see me until I rounded the bend. I just kept a straight line to pick up speed. I guess my inexperience about killed me because I didn’t know what she meant by ‘speed.’ When I hit the bend, I was going a little too fast and hit a big bump. I found I was catching air, and not a little air. I had face-planted every time I’d done this before. Devin had shown me how to absorb the blow on the landing, so I centered myself and somehow managed to stay up.
I needed to bleed off some speed, so I dug my edge in to turn right and I sent a huge shower of snow in my wake. I was flying towards the woods, so I switched edges and put up another huge spray as I cut into the turn. I almost clipped a large pine.
I heaved a big sigh of relief for not falling, and a huge grin was on my face as I found the red pole. I gained confidence and repeated the process when I hit the left side of the trail. Before I knew it, I was doing a perfect face-plant right in front of Bev. There was a tent set up behind Bev, and Devin came running out and was jumping up and down.
“Tell me you got that!”
Bev was smiling from ear to ear. They hurried into the tent where a monitor was set up. Several of the Range executives were there, and they were all smiles as I walked in. Bev brought the first shot up of me starting my launch. Then there were several shots of me catching more and more air. Devin got excited.
“Awright, Man! Booyah!”
I just stared at the screen. How did I not die? That thought kept going through my head.
The next shot showed the first landing with powder blowing up around me. The next one saw me lean over and put the board on edge. You could just make out ‘Range’ on the bottom of the board; I was over that far. The snow I put up was a huge wave behind me. When I hit the turn, I was looking at the camera and smiling. Bev stopped the slideshow.
“This is the shot for the cover of the catalog.”
Devin and the execs crowded in, and they agreed. They ran through the rest of the shots. When they were done, Bev surprised me by giving me a hug.
“Devin had this idea that I told him would never work, but you proved me wrong. We pulled it off in one take. We’re ahead of schedule. Go down the hill and we’ll come get you in thirty minutes when we’re set up for the next shoot.”
Devin and all the executives had big grins on their faces. Using me instead of an experienced snowboarder was a big risk that had paid off for him. I had a blast shredding the clean snow the rest of the run. I got back to the Jeep and took the time to eat and get another drink. I called Mom and told her I was done with the mountain shots. We agreed she would come watch the jumps since she could watch that from the lodge.
Mom wasn’t doing well with the cold, so we talked about how she could come see me work. She would come to shoots where it was easy for her to keep warm. She loved the bunkhouse where she could curl up under an afghan with the fire and look out the windows at the spectacular valley or read a book. It was keeping her mind off her worries. I also told Mom I wanted us to go into town tonight and the two of us have dinner. It had been some time since we had gone out, just the two of us. I was looking forward to it.
I was waiting in the Jeep when my ride finally made it down the hill. We went back to the lodge. The photo crew already had their equipment set up for the shoot. It must have been costing them a fortune to have equipment at each location. All that I saw Bev carrying was her camera and lens cases.
WHEN WE GOT TO THE snowboard area, it was packed with people doing all kinds of tricks. Devin saw my look of admiration and just laughed at me. He knew I was going to try to kill myself duplicating some of their antics. It became apparent that two of the snowboarders were much better than the rest and they were treated like royalty.
“Go ahead and have some fun. The towrope is over there. Bev says she’ll be ready in half an hour. You can get a few runs in between now and then,” Devin told me.
I got in line right in front of the king of the hill.
“You’re great. I see you’re helping people out. Do you have any advice for a rookie?”
“Dude, the best advice I can give you is to keep the board under you, and try not to do too many face-plants, or you’ll end up looking like me.”
He had some road rash on his forehead and nose.
“Does that hurt?” I asked.
He winked at me.
“Hell yes, it hurts, but don’t tell my sister that.”
“Don’t tell your sister what?” a female voice asked.
She was the queen of the hill. Besides being a great snowboarder, she was cute. Her brother noticed me taking her in.
“If I wanted to tell you, I would’ve already. Can’t a guy have a secret or two?”
She gave her brother a look that didn’t bode well for his future.
I leaned in close so only he and his sister could hear.
“Dude, I think your sister knows she’s hot; why wouldn’t you want me to tell her that?”
She went scarlet red, and her brother, seeing that, busted out laughing.
“Laurie, I tried to warn you,” he told her.
She gave us both a dirty look and asked her brother.
“Who is this flirt?”
“I’m David. Sorry for that, I was teasing you.”
I shook her hand and then turned to her brother.
“I didn’t catch your name.”
“I’m Bud.” He made a motion with his head. “You’re next.”
I grabbed the towline and we let it pull us up the hill. The run was only about 300 yards long, but it had several rails and jumps. It looked more like a bunny run for beginners. I asked Bud about it.
“Yes, this is really just a practice area. They have more serious trails for the more experienced.”
“Then why are you and your sister wasting your time? Wouldn’t you have more fun somewhere else?”
“This is kind of boring, but we have a job that starts in an hour or so working with some stuck-up model,” Laurie said.
I tried not to smirk, knowing I was the ‘stuck-up model’ she was talking about. I thought I would have a little fun with her.
“What makes this guy so stuck-up?”
Surprisingly, Bud spoke up.
“The dude sweeps into town and hits the clubs last night. He scoops up three of the nicest girls around, and some tourist, and leaves with all four. One of the girls has been dating my best friend for a couple of years, and now they’re on the outs.”