Board, bindings and boot.

Snowboarding has been something that was in the back of my mind for the better part of the past three years. With hardly any snow to begin with, and a busy work schedule, those plans had to be placed on hold. This year, we’re getting some great snowfall.

Normally, I hate the cold. If I had to deal with sub zero temperatures, I could go home and hide, crawl under my blanket be nice and warm and cozy. Or, I could reap the benefits of the powdery stuff and learn to snowboard.

As I typed that line, I suddenly had second thoughts as to whether I made the right decision to go snowboarding.

Nonetheless, yesterday, I found a good deal on the board, bindings and boots. I thought I’d purchase the products and just sit on it for a few days, and if I really feel I didn’t want to spend the money, I could always return it. Instead, I had to clear a tonne of snow from the driveway today and decided that I should just take the board out for a run.

I got taken out pretty hard by a missile.

When I got to Glen Eden, the nearest ski hill where I live, the very first thing I noticed, was that so many people shop at Costco. They all had the same helmet/goggle combination that I purchased from the store.

The second thing I noticed was that there was an aweful lot of people on the hills. With most of my friends going to places like Blue Mountain, I thought these community hills would be empty. I was wrong.

I wanted to purchase a season’s pass. However, as I wasn’t sure how long I’d be on the training hills, I thought I’d just pay for the session and gauge my abilities first. No sense wasting money on a season’s pass if I was going to be on the training hill most of the time.

As it turns out, there were a few things I could do today that I couldn’t do four years ago, the last time I went snowboarding.

I could get off the lift just fine … I wiped out a few times, but I also managed to come to a good stop many times and I could control my speed pretty well. What I didn’t try this time however, was to try to get airborne. I learned a valuable lesson the last time. I’ll save the airborne stuff for … the third session … maybe.

I am still not sure if I should have my left or right foot forward. They both really seem the same to me. But I could only dig my heels in. When I dug my toes in to control the speed, I tended to not lean forward enough and the board would dig into the snow and I’d wipe out.

I’m lucky to be a pretty efficient visual learner. I just watch videos, imagine myself physically performing the action in the video over and over again for a while, and that counts almost as much as real practice.

Today, I just watched a few videos and read a few instructions online and rehearsed the movements in my head as I drove to the hill. I think that helped a lot in my improvement.

I wanted to end the day on a high note. On my last run, I decided to go down pretty fast but control my speed heels only so I wouldn’t wipe out.

Unfortunately, I got taken out pretty hard by a missile.

You heard right. Some kid was sitting on her snowboard and just going straight down the hill and nailed me from behind. Her board clipped my board enough to make me hit the snow hard.

The kid was sweet though and asked if I was ok, and asked again when I couldn’t respond. I was TKO’d. Her friend or sister was equally concerned and just sat there looking at me until I reassured her I was ok and she could go.

Now, what made me mad was not the kid but the father. While the kid was sitting there asking me if I was ok and not moving until I at least responded, her father kept asking her to just move on. No apology, no concern for my well being. What an asshole. Fortunately for him, he has such a sweet kid … and I was winded.

Lesson learned from event. Indestructible cameras are great to have … unless it’s camera vs ribcage. That’s why I couldn’t bounce right back up on my feet.

Next session, going to practice digging my toe side in to control the speed … and get a season’s pass ‘cuz I’ll be on the regular slopes after that.

p.s. there is an urban dictionary entry for hitting the slopes, a meaning I did not know about.