Stupid Middle Age Man Snow Tubes Over Steep Ramp And Crashes

When you reach a certain age there are just some things you're not supposed to do anymore.

In my head, I still think I'm 23 years old; but that's sadly not the case anymore.  As I get closer to 50 I've realized that I just can't do the things I used to anymore. After every weekend I find myself with some sort of injury or pain that takes longer and longer to heal. When a giant bottle of Advil is on your Christmas list, it's a pretty good sign that you should finally admit that you're getting old.

Unfortunately, I'm still coming to grips with all of this and occasionally continue to make poor decisions. This was the case on Sunday when I went snow tubing with my son and decided it would be fun to try out a giant snow ramp some kids had made.

I saw the ramp from the top of the hill and was convinced I would fly high into the air and amaze everyone, safely landing a few yards down the hill. In reality, that's not what happened.

As I started down the hill I quickly realized that I'm much heavier than a 9-year-old, which means that I gain speed much faster than the kids this ramp was made for. As I approached the ramp I instantly realized this was a terrible decision. I flew up into the air, and for a brief moment, I was a little kid having fun in the snow. And then, in a split second, things got real. You can see the spectacular fail for yourself in this slow-motion video I posted to Instagram.

While hurling through the air, my tube slipped out from me, leaving me unprotected from the crash landing that was about to happen. The impact was so strong that my hat and glasses flew off as I rolled over my open hand. Dazed, I looked down to realize that my thumb had popped out of its socket.

Not wanting to alarm my son, or have anyone else realize just how foolish I was to try this in the first place, I figured out how to pop the thumb back into place and sat the rest of the afternoon out, icing down my hand with some snow.

Luckily, it doesn't look like my thumb was permanently injured. Aside from being a little sore and bruised, it looks like it's going to be ok. But let's just say my ego didn't fare quite as well. While I probably won't hang up my snow tube forever, I may have to consider retire from extreme ramp jumping -- at least until my thumb fully heals.