Today was an epic day snowboarding.
Woke up in the morning and texted my friend to make sure we were still heading over to snowboard together. I had my doubts since the conditions didn’t seem so good: little fresh snow, lots of wind.
To be honest, I was scared I was going to suck. This was my first time riding with this friend whom I actually look up to very much, he is some sort of hero to me in many ways and I certainly didn’t want to look bad in front of him or slow him down too much to the point he would get bored of waiting for me.
Luckily he insisted for us to go, waiving off the weather conditions and focusing more on the simplicity of spending some time up in the mountains, surrounded by trees while sliding down the slopes.
Our first rides together were super fun. It took me a bit to drop in and feel comfortable, but once I started to connect my turns it all became much easier.
It wasn’t long until I decided to let him lead the way and take me into whichever route he preferred. By the time we made it to the most difficult trails I was feeling all warmed up and comfortable.
Still, there was a point where the slope got too steep and I froze. I couldn’t do any turns any more, my head was telling my legs to turn and my body was saying no. This was probably the best part of the day, not because of the fear, but because of my willingness to work with it and my friend’s skill to guide me through the challenge and teach me how to overcome it.
He was very patient, waiting for me and showing me how to improve my turns. He wanted me to commit and I wanted that too but it did take me a while to throw myself into those toe side turns at such a steep inclination.
Perhaps the best part of it all was understanding how much lower I needed to get to the ground and how much deeper I needed to bend my knees. Once I understood the importance of this, and got to connect the muscles of my back with my legs, the whole experience of riding a snowboard took on a whole different level. I felt more agile, quick on the board, more in control and less scared of the steep edge. The connection I felt between my back and leg muscles was nothing short than groundbreaking.
Now that I have experienced what it feels like to ride so low I think I will never go back to riding upright. Bending the knees so deeply surely takes more effort from the leg and back muscles, but it is well worth it. By the time we got back in the car I felt like I had conquered snowboarding, soon I would see that is far from true.
Once I got back home I felt so motivated to continue learning and practicing that I spent an hour looking at more instructional videos on how to snowboard. More than anything I focused on learning how to carve. This was an idea I had heard of but had not fully understood yet. Now I know that carving means to get perfectly balanced over the edge of the board, this is the point of ultimate balance and maximum speed. A place I will continue to search for next time I strap myself onto a snowboard.
@BrunoTreves
