Snowboard

“From the second I strapped both feet onto my board, I realized nothing in my previous board-sports experience had prepared me for this. I tried to stand up and promptly fell back onto my ass for what would be the first of many times that morning. My second attempt had me fall over onto my hands and knees, my ass wiggling in the air as I tried to tip myself back up and onto my feet. I was expecting something like the flat stability of a skateboard, but if anything the experience felt vaguely similar to walking a slackline with a thin margin of error to tip in either direction before overbalancing was inevitable.”

“I was cruising on my third attempt and rotated to a side slip down and caught a front edge and…OH MY LORD will THAT take you into a face plant in NO time at all! [...] Falling backwards does this whiplash thing that introduces the back of your head to Mother Earth in a very hasty fashion! Boy that rocks your world. [...] After what seemed like ten falls, I was physically SPENT! I was wet with perspiration more so than from hitting the snow [...] One – snowboarding is much EASIER than I thought that it would be. Snowboarding is E-A-S-Y…when you’re doing the R-I-D-I-N-G part. But the falling, writhing around to get up and falling repeatedly part is HARD WORK. HARD WORK!”

“I strapped my other foot on the board, and tried walking towards the ski lift with it. Talk about a work out! I was beat before I was even on the top of the slope! [...] Once I stood up, and I was standing on the board, the miracle happened. I felt totally comfortable with the board, and I wasn’t anymore afraid of giving snowboarding a try. I couldn’t wait to start going down the hill and learn all the fun stuff. I started doing what is called “falling leaves”, sliding with the board from left to right and making a pattern to the slope which looks how a leaf falls down. Rachel was trying to make me stop and listen, but I couldn’t stop, I forgot how to do it.”