Why I Love Snowboarding
This winter I did something I felt extremely privileged of doing: snowboarding.
Upon graduation last December, I had two months of freedom. I thought about traveling, but comparing to waking up in the mountain, grabbing a bite at the peak at noon, and finishing the day down the slope, it somehow didn’t sound nearly as appealing anymore. So I end up setting aside three weeks of my time to do nothing but snowboarding. One of the weeks I went alone, hoping to meet some interesting people there on the slope. It was a beautiful and peaceful week, almost meditative.
What I love about ski town culture is how laid back and friendly the people are, and how simply they lived. It’s one of the few places left in Canada that hitchhiking between the town and the mountain is seen frequently. I was told by a local that at Fernie if there’s 30+cm of snowfall the night before, there’s an unwritten rule that all the shops in town wouldn’t be open until noon next day because everyone will be hitting the freshest powder in the morning; not nicely-groomed tracks or hard-packed snow, but waist-high untouched soft powder gifted from Mother Nature. Gliding on that type of snow feels like cutting butter with a hot knife. It’s completely silent, highly versatile, and really playful.
One added benefit of being in a ski town in the Rockies is that you meet travelers from around the world. Although being on the slope during the weekday means zero lineups and having a chairlift all to myself, occasionally I would catch the lift with another stranger and almost always we’ll have a small conversation where I hear about his/her interesting stories for the next 5 to 10 minutes. I’ve met ski bums, nomads, even professional skiers. It reminds me of the different possible lifestyles out there, and it leaves no reason not to seek change if we are ever not happy about the status quo; sometimes even if we are happy about it.
Another favourite part of the day for me is at noon, where I take the chairlift to the lodge at the summit. If weather permits, I would sit by the window basking under the sun, looking out at the magnificent surroundings while sipping on a hot chocolate or beer. After that, the cold weather and steep slope can once again be tackled.
One thing you really learn when you ski/board is how to trust your body. A common rookie mistake is leaning backwards when going down the hill. But as you gather more experience you realize that edging forward is what gives you control and confidence. Technically, the body should be perpendicular to the ground. So if you are going down a black diamond it almost feel like you are attempting to fall forward. However once you get over the mental hurdle and take a few leaps of faith, things become a little easier, and then easier, and eventually it’s just as natural as walking.
I think we do live too rushed in the modern world, as if everything we do is to serve a purpose in the distant future. There’s something about snowboarding that involves the mind, body, and soul as we forget about things behind us, things too far in front of us, and simply focus on what’s below our feet and a few meters ahead. It’s a mentality I have to remind myself to be in more often.
If you have read this much by now, you can probably tell how much I love snowboarding not only as a sport but also as a lifestyle. If you haven’t done it, perhaps give it a try. I can’t guarantee you will also feel the same way, but at the minimum you will appreciate winter a little more.
