Snowboarding – HIKES & HAMSTRINGS

Snowboarding at Sunshine Village

So I finally went snowboarding this season. On Saturday, Robbie and I headed out to Sunshine Village to hit the slopes. I decided earlier this year that I would make a committed effort to snowboard instead of ski (which is a much more comfortable activity for me). With XC skiing in the schedule, snowboarding would be a welcomed change. I also own snowboarding equipment, so I figured I should really give it a go.

Thankfully the runs weren’t too busy, and I had lots of time to practice. Of course, there were many falls, and turning continues to be the biggest issue for me, but overall I felt quite comfortable on the snowboard. For having only gone twice last year, this was quite a surprise! Luckily there will be many more visits to the mountains, and my hope by the end of the season is to descend a green run while manoeuvring from heel to toe without falling. I think it’s doable.

Concussed while Snowboarding!

It really is true: helmets save lives. My second snowboarding attempt of the season occurred on Sunday. While it was great that I managed descend my first green run on a snowboard, it wasn’t without some pains. Mainly, I hit my head hard three times, at which point, I called it a day. But Sunshine was beautiful. The weather was sunny, and although it was really cold, it managed to be such a fun day. Minus the almost-concussed head. Gotta get back up and keep trying. I’ll get the hang of this snowboard thing at some point…

Snowboarding Attempt #2

About 4 years ago, before I moved to Calgary, I tried snowboarding at Glen Eden in Milton, Ontario. My brother was teaching my mum and I, and though we fell a few times, it was lots of fun. Since then, I’ve been wanting to attempt it again, and though I had ambitious plans to do so once I moved to Calgary, it never happened. Fast forward to yesterday. I can finally say that I’ve tried snowboarding… twice.

My friend Divya from work is learning to snowboard and asked if I wanted to join for a lesson at Nakiska. I figured it was good motivation to get out to the slopes! And by slopes, I mean bunny hill, since falling was pretty much expected. Robbie was interested in trying it out as well since he had never been on a snowboard before, so we woke up early Sunday morning and headed to Kananaskis. The weather wasn’t too bad- a bit windy at times, but pretty decent conditions for learning!

We met Divya for the lesson, and before we knew it, we were strapping the bindings, learning about heel and toe edges, and attempting to change directions while descending the slopes. Our instructor, whose name I think was Leo, was awesome and very encouraging! We felt great about our progress!

But once the lesson was up and we were left to practice the skills we learned, it was downhill from there… both literally, and figuratively. Robbie and I had some good runs, but equally, some great and painful falls. And boy was it ever exhausting!! All in all, though, it was a fantastic day, and so much fun. I guess more progress was made than not, since practice makes perfect. My goal is to actually snowboard a few times this winter… as well as ski once or twice. With winter being 8 months long, it’s time to start taking advantage of this whole snow business!