Don't Get Punched in the Face :s

I went for a daytrip to Mt Buller yesterday (Tuesday) to snowboard. My trip to Hotham during the previous weekend wasn't enough. So 3 friends and I headed up yet another mountain in search of that adrenaline rush that only snowboarding down a steep slope and still having control of your board gives you. Well, drugs do that too - but this way is much safer... Or so I thought!

Decided to be a hero and try a run where the only way up is to ride a T-bar. For those who don't snowboard/ski, a T-bar is an upside-down T-shaped bar (duh!) that you are meant to hook onto your leg and it pulls you up the slope. I'd seen it numerous times at Mt Hotham but had decided that I'd rather just use a regular chairlift. This time, I had no choice. And 4 tries later, I was still stuck somewhere near the bottom of the slope - I kept falling down 1/4 of the way up. Nyeh. Luckily, there was a ski instructor who rode up with me on my 5th try and he helped me keep my balance and I managed to make it all the way to the top!! I was so relieved that I'd FINALLY reached the top and could now just take a regular chairlift when... (with my amazing luck)... a T-bar HIT ME in the face.

Yes, I was in pain... and shock. I fell to the ground clutching my nose (yes, second nose accident in a month!) and tried to will the pain away. Then I realised that my nose was bleeding all over my light blue ski jacket and WHITE ski pants. My friend who was standing a small distance aways thought that the blood on my pants was some sort of cloth pattern. Meh. I must admit, I did cry... and hyperventilate... But both the bleeding and hyperventilating stopped soon enough. And the best part was that I got to ride one of those snowmobile thingos with the paramedic dude who came to check on me.

So now, my left eye is swollen (the T-bar hit the left side of my face and my nose). But I'm just glad that nothing worse happened.

I went to get my left eye checked today and they gave me eyedrops to dilate my pupils so that they could see the back of my retina properly. The doctor told me that they stay dilated for about 3 hours or so after that. And as I walked back to my apartment, I understood why druggies wear sunnies even at night - I hadn't brought sunnies, so I had to look down with my eyes only 20% open to block out the excessive light. Note that it was a particularly gloomy day in Melbourne :p

The end verdict isn't too bad. My left eye should be alright once the swelling goes down - I look like I got punched realll bad :p The eye doctor person told me that my eye wasn't damaged (apparently my eyelid did it's job of protecting my eyeball :p). And now, I have yet another "What (Silly) Shobie Did" story to add to my collection.

Not planning to ride a t-bar EVER AGAIN.

And just for the record, I prefer Hotham over Buller anytime - better snow, better slopes :)