Personal Narrative: The Art Of Snowboarding

Speed! That’s all I think about as I head down the slope. The wind blasts in my face as I race down. Suddenly, I swerve out of control; I freak out. My skis fall off and I’m stuck on a snowy hill looking down at a steep slope. Fortunately, my dad skis down and stopped a few a feet away from me. Panicking, I sat down and begin to worry. Yet, my dad eventually straightens me out and shows me how to get back up, we continue skiing.

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.

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.

The the darkness of the black night seeps through the walls of my house, engulfing the hallway to my parents room in shadow. I walk tentatively, towards the open door, a tension and sense of anxiety building in my chest because I know that what I am about to say will invoke anger from my Father. “We can’t go skiing” I blurt out, explaining to my parents that I have a midterm next Thursday in AP U.S History so I can not go on the family skiing trip that had been planned for over a month. My father’s frustration becomes apparent to me, his sharply voice raising, his tone becoming stern and his brows furrowing.

On a windy October night, I was in the car going to learn to skate. My dad and I were talking in the car about how the blackhawks played yesterday. They won 3-0. Anyway, when we pulled in I felt a burst of excitement because I realized that I just got a new pair of skates.

What's going on gnarly crew!? By posting this picture of my new board setup, I'd like to introduce myself, and a new chapter of my life. I'm a filmmaker, who lost the passion for his craft. Last couple of years have been pretty rough. I had to battle a lot of things at once, whether it were financial or mental issues. Recently though I have regained the passion for creating again through an old hobby of mine. Skateboarding. A couple months ago I started watching several YouTube personalities in skateboarding scene, as well as some old school skate films. Skateboarding has been an old hobby of mine for a long time. In the beginning college took that away a little, later on work in film industry completely made me forget about it. Watching those

We zoomed down someone behind me flipped I glanced quickly it was Merd. When I looked back crash! Boom! We all slammed together. I could feel the freezing cold snow fill the little black sled. I could see the sled getting taller by the minute, And just filling up with white shimmering snow. The snow was a cold as ice.Well I guess that was a bad race. No Winner! We all frowned O man. This was supposed to be a competition not a clang up. I dragged my little black sled up the hill.

The Winter Classic is a once every year event that takes place every New Year’s Day. It is a special game that thee National Hockey League puts on where two teams get to play a game outside instead of the usual indoor game. The 2011 Winter Classic happened to be taking place right here in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. I as the hockey fan I am naturally wanted to go to it. I had brought up the idea of going as merely a suggestion a “Hey wouldn’t this be cool” type of thing. I was not thinking that anything would come of it just expecting it to forgotten about. Then we flash forward to Christmas morning of that year I am just about done taking in all of my presents and my mom said I have one more present left. I sat there wondering to myself what

Every MLK weekend me and my family drive up to WI to ski/snowboard. This year though was a different story I accidentally broke my collar bone the week before and we weren't able to go. Every year we leave our house at 4:15 am we drive all the way through until we hit WI, then we stop at the nearest breakfast joint we see. We go inside and eat like maniacs then we are back on the road and continue to the slopes. When we arrive we put on all of our heavy snow gear and go inside there we rent our skis/snowboards. Everyone in my family skis except me. Justis,Jacob,Mom and Dad all ski. I Love to snowboard many people say it is super hard but it's not at all if you learn how to do it right.I learned with Matthew on a trip a long long time ago.

I have been skiing for the past ten years. For most of these years, I have been skiing recreationally and through lesson groups at Smuggler’s Notch. Since last school year, I joined the Essex High School Alpine Ski Team. Joining EHS Alpine has been an enriching experience for me socially and personally. I have improved my skiing techniques significantly and gained confidence through my practices and competitions. I build friendships with the members of my team and acquainted myself with other skiers from other teams across the state through our practices and competitions. This experience helped me to develop myself socially and personally.

It was a sunny day in the middle of winter, that year it was a very sad skiing season. Still, Most people were skiing that day, but my friends and I were trying to find something to do. We settled on going to target, So we set off on a very long trip of 10 or 11 blocks, carrying nothing but 20 dollars in each of our pockets. Walking down the silent sidewalks of our neighborhood, we decided to buy some crazy stuff. We walked in only to meet this kid we all hate, Grant.

Have you ever had your life flash before your eyes or hear the sound of your bone crack? Well that happened to me. It was a cold and gloomy morning. My Mom asked “do you want to go skiing?” I replied with a “yes.” My Mom called Lee’s Mom to see if she and her daughter Lee wanted to go skiing. They replied with a “yes.” Lee’s Dad asked if we wanted a ride to the train station and we said “sure.”

We left New Year’s Eve to go snowmobiling in the hills for the weekend. I was exuberant and ready to go. We loaded the snowmobiles on to the trailer so we could leave early in the morning then we wouldn't have to do it in the morning. I went to bed so then I could get up early to make sure I had everything. I got a text from my mom and said I had to go over to grandparents to get my snow pants. I went outside to start my car so it would warm up. I let my car warm up for a couple minutes. I left our to go over to grandparents. It took me about 15 minutes to get to their house.

I, all my life have been one hundred percent dedicated to skateboarding. It started when I was just six years old. It has always been my favorite thing to do. I’ll be honest, I am good at it, and I have always competed well. But then I got to this point where, I was not so sure if it was for me. I questioned my skill, and love for skateboarding. You are going to find out what exactly happened.

Reflecting back onto a majority of my life choices I am able to observe a common factor that weighed in on the outcomes, my passion for skiing and my quest to be an exemplary student athlete. Over the course of the 7 years in which I have been racing competitively, I have changed schools 5 times all in search of the learning style that suits me best and accommodates my schedule fraught with races. I am currently embarking on my second year at North Tahoe High School and with the support of the Ski Academy Program I believe I will have a successful year both academically and athletically.