Snowboarding - Surfing the Earth!
May 14th, 2008
That most energizing and bold sport - snowboarding! Have
you ever tried it?
Take a mountain of snow, a big flat curved board, step on,
and whoosh! Off you go! You’re surfing the Earth! It’s
exhilarating to the max.
I really got into it when I moved to Colorado. I used to
live in Michigan. Yeah, there’s some skiing and
snowboarding in Michigan, and most of the northern states.
But when you’ve got real mountains, there’s just nothing
like it. Nothing I ever skiied in Michigan compared to the
slopes of Colorado. Nothing.
I’m pretty agile and I’ve got the balance thing down, so
it was easy for me to get the knack of moving my weight
from heel to toe and maneuvering the board against the snow
and gravity. I fell off plenty of times while I was
learning. And I still do it sometimes, but then, that’s
part of the fun.
Just like any sport, you can’t read about it and just do
it. You have to get out there and strap your feet onto the
board. But if you’re really new to the idea, you can get
some information off web sites like www.abc-of-
snowboarding.com.
But what really works is watching the other people on the
slopes and then playing with the techniques yourself.
Experiment. And definitely don’t worry about it when you
crash. In fact, expect it. Wipeouts are going to happen.
It’s inevitable. If you’re not crashing, you’re not
learning. Push your limits and test your skills.
Oh, and if it’s the middle of summer and you’re just
craving that surfing feel, and you’re like, totally bored
out of your gourd, you can go find some online snowboarding
games. Yeah, I know. It’s tough when there’s no snow, but
if you’re into games, you can do the moves in your head for
a couple of months till it snows again.
But right now, it’s early in the season yet and the snow
is just beginning, so get out there and play!
Kathryn Mosely has written extensively on subjects related to sports and fitness. Her articles can be found at Snowboard Max
She also contributes Acer Bike