Personal Narrative: My First Time Snowboarding

Snowboarding is one of the most enjoyed international pastimes. It presents you with this feeling of freedom and raw power as the cold air hits your face while you carve down the almost vertical mountain face dropping over steep clips and carving trough trees. These are just a few reasons why so many people internationally flock to the mountains to partake in this sport. Snowboarding provides people an escape from there comfort zone by pushing them to take on risks they would never have thought off before.

Pursuing a university degree while continuing to ski race at a high level is my main goals for the next four years. I strive to find balance between school and sport while pursuing excellence in both. Growing up and learning how to ski on limited snow in Nova Scotia has given me a deep appreciation of all the wonderful ski centers Canada has to offer. I developed my love for skiing on the 2.5 km of trails that Martock Nordic Ski Club groomed near Windsor, NS, those small trails sparked my interest in skiing and have kept me loving skiing ever since. When deciding what to do after high school, I knew that I wanted to continue ski racing, but also continue with my education.

At the age of twelve I started skiing. Not by choice, but because my grade was going and my mom thought it was an easy way to get out of teaching me herself. Well anyway, after that terrifying trip I loved it, and believe it or not, I

When I was 15, that was my 3rd year of snowboarding, my ramp freestyle element went wrong. Just this one jump became the biggest challenge in my life.

Falling over and over onto the dense sleet surface, with snow penetrating what’s left keeping you warm; your initial experience of snowboarding. Similar to other learning experiences, but perhaps not as harsh. Learning is a journey filled with challenges and sometimes failures. What determines the outcome is whether you can persevere and receive the everlasting reward of success. Learning is what you make of it, may it be learning to snowboard or applying it into the classroom setting. It will be an enriching skill you will be able to apply universally.

Throughout time, the progression and evolution of snowboarding has increased greatly. It has gone from non existence in the late 1970’s, to one of the most watched action sports in a matter of thirty-five years. The upward takeoff and popularity of snowboarding relies on two people, Jake Burton and Shaun White. Jake Burton back in 1977 had the vision for what snowboarding would be, but Shaun White had what it took to manifest that vision. Evidence has shown that time brings change in sports, history has repeated itself with snowboarding, this history reflects the time & changes that has occurred in America.

The best thing to ever happen to me was when my parents forced me to join the Loon Mountain X Team. I was an adolescent 8th grader living in the cozy coastal town of Cohasset Massachusetts, knowing that my time in New England, which began when I was three, would soon come to an end as a daunting move to Texas loomed overhead. I knew I wanted to make the most of my 8th grade year, but as the dead leaves dropped from the trees, the idea of my faraway move to Texas ripping me from my home, family, and friends whom I’ve known for the past ten years of my life, sent me into a depression during that fall. However, I still had something to look forward to, skiing. I had been skiing on and off since I was five, and for the past two years, my family

Snow skiing. The first day learning to ski is rough for almost anyone you ask. The day before my first ski trip, I could not help but wonder. Was I going to fall on my butt? Would I fall flat on my face? Would I make a fool out of myself? These were all questions that I knew I would soon get answers to. I had built up such intense feelings of nervousness and excitement that I could hardly tell the difference. All I wanted was to make it out alive.

After about a half hour of walking down the mountain I sat on my snowboard to take a break. When I stood up the board slid out from under me and started making it’s way down the mountain without me. In turn, I was forced to chase it, as it caused other snowboarders and skiers to dodge and avoid my board and me. The people who caught my board were in there twenties and did not have any sympathy for the situation and laughed at me for being scared to fall off the mountain. If I ever try snowboarding again, I will know not to take off the snowboard while on the mountain and that’s how I learned my

Ski Patrol rode up with us coincidentally. When we got of i immediately fell, I wasn't used to riding with only one foot in. About 5 more rides later my brother was ready to ride the lift with me and my friend. I never really found out the kids name I just called him dude and stuff like that, Normal stuff 10 year olds call each other. The third day was really fun, my friend didn't come because he got hurt at the end of the second day. My mom wanted to be able to talk to us while we were on the mountain, so she bought walkie-talkies and earbuds that had microphones on it so that we could talk to each other and me and my brother could tell each other if we got separated or lost. This happened one time he went up the wrong lift without me and i had to find him on my way down. We were getting really good for our first time. We started trying the blues and were going pretty slow. At the end of the weekend it was time to go home. At 4:00 the lifts shut down and we changed into comfortable clothes and drove home. The next morning I was really sore and bruised up from all the falls. We later went back to another resort named Cataloochee. This time I took a friend by the name of

The conditions were perfect three feet of fluffy white gold, the groomers were out grooming the trails so they were flat and fast. Although every real snowmobiler knows the fun starts once you leave the hard pack and get into the deep snow that is untouched. So that is exactly what I did. The group and I are were coming through a large field with what we call rollers. Rollers are large snow drifts that form like waves and have the same shape as one. We were coming through and I was busting through the powder but I looked up ahead and there was on drift that was way bigger than the rest. So I went full throttle Larry Enticer style and sent my snowmobile flying through the air, I must have been 10-15 feet in the air minimum. Once I came down i landed hard and my snowmobile sunk deep into the snow like a golfer when he lays a ball up on the green, the snowmobile just stuck there. I came in hot and once the sled stuck in place I was trying to keep my forward motion but with there being such a large change in speed I flipped over the handlebars. As i was laying there completely stunned I look back and see my brother coming over a smaller drift heading right for me. He was traveling too close to me and he smacked right into the back of my snowmobile. I was beyond livid I got up as fast as I could so when he hit me I didn't get run over by my own snowmobile. I got up looked and saw that My brother hit me so hard he had smashed his snowmobile in between the tunnel and the track of my brand new snowmobile. Everyone came back to make sure that we were okay which thankfully we both were and to try and dislodge his snowmobile from mine. After a few tries we got them unstuck from each other and checked the sleds to make sure they were rideable, which they both were. From there we put on another 20-30 miles and then we stopped for dinner at the Candle Light. Then we road back to the trailer and home with only

One month ago was the second time I had ever been snowboarding. The first time was nothing special. I merely taught myself how to repeatedly fall until your legs and hands are so cold you feel like one of your fingers could snap off at any moment. I would prefer not to recall that memory. The latter was the more enjoyable of the two and during this time I really began to understand the principles of this painfully limb-numbing sport. Each time I fell it was as if a teacher from the not-so-glorious years of the twentieth century had slapped a ruler against the top of my hand. It hurt a lot but after my proverbial hand had an imprint of inches one and two, I was finally able to piece together where I had went wrong in my inept technique. I corrected

It was a chilly Sunday afternoon with blue skies and all the makings for a good day of early season skiing on that fateful November afternoon. The day was winding down, the Broncos had just kicked off, and my friends and I had just leapt off the chairlift to embark on our last run of the day. All was well on the way down, a blur of orange jerseys rushing by as I sped down the mountain making the most of the last run of my day. Upon our final few turns of the afternoon, I found myself in a predicament that would later shape me into the person I am today.

After spending two years in a tropical climate, coming home to a dry and cold climate seems cruel. Especially when I have to walk from my apartment to my various classes. But, once again my view on snow has changed once again when my friend invited me to go snowboarding with him. It was the first time that I went snowboarding. I was feeling confident. because I know how to skateboard and I thought I would be able to transition my skills fairly easily. We set out to my roommates house to pick up his cousin and the snow gear for me. From there we went to the resort; once we got all our gear one we walked to the bunny hill lift. It looked simple enough, all you had to do was hold on to a rope that would pull you and the board up the hill. So I was partly strapped in my board ready to grab on the rope. Once I grabbed on the force pulling me forward surprised me, I bent this way and that eventually falling down. This happened two more times until I gave up and walked the rest of the way up the hill. I like to say the bunny hill went better, but it didn’t. I soon realized that my skills as a skateboarder did not transition well. I fell many times and there were no signs of me getting better. After we ran the bunny hill a few times my roommate took me to the intermediate sloop. From the bottom of the hill I looked up at the steep slope and I thought I was going to die if I went down that hill. Getting on the lift was not as difficult as I thought, I jusr sat down and slid my board off the hill. The anticipation was building going up the hill, because the lift kept stopping, making the ride even longer. I started out really well, Sliding down the hill is a ziz-zag formation. Then I made my first big mistake. I was feeling a little more confident in my skills and decided to go a little faster. Once I decided to do this my snowboard went over a patch of ice. The board slipped out from under my and I rolled und

Since the last time you visited my life has changed quite a bit. Our school’s ninth grade course lists have been handed out to the students, along with the scheduling for next year’s marching band. Even though all of this sounds delightful, I am most excited about this upcoming Sunday. I have wanted to go snowboarding for the longest time. Being free on Sunday, It seems like the perfect opportunity. The weather on that day consists of fairly low temperatures too. Back to the course selection, my mom and I think we have set a good starting point for my choices.