Ahh, tequila and winter sports. never heard of that.
i think WebbSki is a great place to start. the terrain at Summit Central has a good fall-line, and it's the closes to Seattle.

go for the tune-up, and don't be afraid to check in again in Feb/March, when it starts dumping again.

Have fun! and check out helmets. it's pretty common to wear a helmet these days.
http://www.snowboardconnection.com/products.cfm?CatID=117&ViewAll=1

We would love to help you learn to snowboard! www.webbski.com

I would suggest a private lesson to start, just to get back in the swing of things and then maybe a group lesson?

Looking forward to helping get you back out on the snow!

I always do the drizzling and ironing at home, which makes almost no mess if I'm careful or put down some craft paper. Then whenever I'm ready to go ride, I stop by the rental shop or repair shop at the mountain 5 minutes before the lifts start, and either ask to use their scraper or have them do it. Often there's an eager shop tech willing to spend one minute scraping for me.

This solves the mess problem, which I too was concerned about. They won't charge you but you might want to throw em a buck or two for a tip.

Unfortunatley, they don't. They have prides of fierce attack cats that immediately take down and lick to death any trespassers.

But really, they don't. Sorry.

The others here have given some really great answers. The only thing I disagree with is the recommendation for MSR's Lightning Ascents. These are really more of an expedition style snowshoe, not meant for a beginner.

**Putting on the marketing hat**
The organization I work for, The Mountaineers, is hosting a snowshoe demo day on January 8, 2011. It's called Winter Trails Day and takes place at our property, which lies just between Summit West and Summit Central at Snoqualmie Pass. The event really is a great way to figure out which snowshoes are best for you. Atlas, Tubbs, and MSR are all going to be there with all their snowshoe models. We have a huge property and take folks on short tours so they can get the feel of walking in the 'shoes. And the best thing is that it's free. The event runs from 10 am to 4 pm, and we'll have more information on our website in the next couple of weeks.
**takes off marketing hat**

Snowshoeing is a blast. Don't wait another year to get started - once you get out a few times, you'll kick yourself for not snowshoeing sooner.

i just went to REI and saw that they are having a "snowshoeing for Women" lecture next week. i (think) it's on the 10th.

The tubing park at Summit is a blast and they issue all riders a tube. The tubes are really stable but really fun.

Have you contacted any of the folks @ REI? They are always full of info. http://www.rei.com/stores/11

REI has a free snowboard waxing class coming up Dec. 14th, too, if you are interested http://www.rei.com/stores/11

You might be able to compensate for this with your bindings, rather than the boots. I have large feet that normally would hang over the edge of my board and drag in the snow. Instead of dealing with the bad handling I would get with a wider board, I have plates installed under my bindings that lift them slightly so that my toes and heels don't drag. You could probably have a custom plate machined in a wedge shape that would correct for pronation. This would change the angle not just of the foot bed, but the brace of the binding as well, so it might not work perfectly, but it's a possibility. You could probably check it out by loosening the bolts on your binding, inserting temporary wedges, tightening the bolts, and strapping in.

While it's no excuse for the full deal, you can get paste wax that rubs on in about 30 seconds and makes no mess. The main point of this wax is to make your already waxed board faster and tip-top for basically one day, but in a pinch, it's also mess-free, so you don't have to sweat the towels and sweeping and whatnot. Always handy to have anyway!

do it in a kitchen, or any place you have with hard floors. short answer about wax is that you ARE going to get scrapings everywhere, there is no avoiding it. at least on a solid floor they are quick and easy to sweep up.

ive always just used a couple chairs or barstools and turn the board upside down on those, this allows you to have the board floating free on the head and tail making it easier to slide and wipe, a table would block you a bit as the board would rest and sit at an angle.

Check out the Greasebus. It's only $10 and you get a discount from your lift ticket. They go to Summit and Stevens though they only operate on the weekends and not all year round.

They pick up from Snowboard Connection in the mornings and you get to shred while being enviromentally conscious.

http://www.greasebus.com/seattle/

Otherwise, Craigslist Rideshares or bumming rides from buddies are good options.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/rid/

Hope that helps,
Rich @ Snowboard Connection

206-812-4510 ext. 4351

Try the above phone number. I just called and got spoke to a guy there who said they've been super swamped with phone calls. They said if it doesn't work, leave a message and they generally call back the same day. They are open till 3:30pm.

Hope that helps,
Rich @ Snowboard Connection

Good question! There's no way to do it without making a mess. Here's what I did when I was a kid and my mom was freaked out about wax everywhere...

My brothers and I would put our boards on the counter or table but lay down old beach towels to catch any wax drip and the wax scrapings/dust. We'd put phonebooks or catalogs under the nose and tail to keep the board flat and steady during waxing and scraping. When you're done, just gather the outside perimeter of the towel and carefully dump it into the trash or just shake the towel in the lawn.

We'd also vaccuum immediately to appease our mom.

Hope this helps.

Rich @ Snowboard Connection

Join the Husky Snowboard Team. We're essentially a rideshare group of UW students, alumni, and snow-hungry Seattleites. We encourage carpooling to the hill by reimbursing drivers who take 2+ club members with them $15-$20 per trip up to an initial limit of $100 for the season. To make that happen, we require a $25 annual membership fee (under the idea that 1 driver can take 3 others with him/her). For organizing rides we mainly use a members-only Facebook group but are in the process of launching a home-cooked mobile app to make things much simpler. In addition to riding all the time, we throw rad events in town and on the hill including BBQs, parties, on-campus movie premiers, shop nights, etc. Finally, you get a totally rad club t-shirt at the end of the year, infinite high-fives and a whole bunch of new friends who hate having to go to school and/or work on a powder day.

You could try renting a tube at a tubing center (http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Activities/Tubing)and see if you like it.

Our ski school (www.webbski.com) offers transportation from a variety of in town locations (Seattle, Renton, Eastgate) to Snoqualmie. You can opt for transportation only and select a per time round trip or a 6-week session.

If one of your auto-ed friends can get you guys up to the Chevron station east of Sultan (it's usually below the snow line), there's a shuttle from there to Stevens for a pretty nominal fee. They used to sell discounted lift tickets at the same place, but I don't know if that's still the case.

You only need a safety certificate if you're under 16. Otherwise you just need a driver's license to drive one on a public roadway (which you usually are, since most snowmobile trails are just snowed-in forest roads). Probably some sort of basic safety instruction would be a good thing, but generally if you can drive a car and are sober you shouldn't have much trouble with a normal run-of-the-mill snowmobile (as opposed to some of the high-powered death machines they probably don't rent).

Locally, I know there's a place in Easton (a little ways past Snoqualmie Pass) that rents 'em (website: http://www.eastonwa.com/Snowmobile%20Rentals.htm ). It's maybe not the most spectacular terrain 'round those parts, but $95 for a half weekday on a single sled is a pretty cheap introduction to the world of gasoline-powered winter, uh, sports.

But do you want to have a REALLY ridiculous time? Go to Yellowstone. If you can ignore the politics around snowmobiles in the park, you'll have a blast. The park is amazing and otherworldly in the winter and a snowmobile is really the only practical way to see it. It's just icing on the cake that it's super fun whizzing around on the park roads and plus there's no crowds! It's the off-season so lodging in West Yellowstone is pretty darn cheap and renting a sled and getting in on a guided tour (now required) costs about the same as just renting a sled around here.

when there is enough snow in town, sledding down 65th from Phinney is pretty awesome. also, hamilton viewpoint park in west seattle.

Make sure you get shoes with the cramponesque serrated teeth under your foot/binding.

I can confirm that the Methow Valley is both awesome skiing and a long-ass drive.

The other obvious suggestion would be the Stevens Nordic Center, which is a bit more of a drive than Snoqualmie, but has good snow more consistently.

If you're just looking for a change in scenery, there's a few other similiarly groomed (in the sense of gone over with a snow cat from time to time) areas near Cabin Creek, like Lake Easton and Kacheese. Some of the trails by Lake Wenatchee are pretty nice too, but again it's also more of a drive.

This page has listings of the gov't run sno-parks: http://www.parks.wa.gov/winter/trails/?TrailType=nonmotorized

I can't say from personal experience, but the Methow Valley is supposed to be a great cross-country skiing area. There's a network of trails through the valley. I haven't seen it in winter, myself, but I've biked the trails in summer and expect it would be beautiful.

Getting out there in winter is a bit of a drag (4 1/2 hours from Seattle, at least), so it's really a weekend trip, rather than a single day outing.

http://www.mvsta.com/winter/

rent them from REI a couple times until you find what you like; start with the noob models and start slow - you'll totally hurt the first time or two.

you can go to free info sessions at REI - it's on their events page.

Snoqualmie Summit is a close option:

http://www.summitatsnoqualmie.com/Activities/Nordic-Skiing-And-Snowshoeing

MSR Lightning Ascents.

They're pricey, around $250 a pair, but worth it for Washington snowshoeing.

I've heard that some people have had issues with the durability of the rubber membrane that makes up most of the shoe's platform, but I've not had those issues with mine.