First Time Snowboarding

     So, you have finally decided to learn how to snowboard. Congratulations on joining one of the most rapidly growing sports on the planet. Whether you have been to your "home" mountain and seen all the crazy people going down the hills sideways on funny looking wheel less skateboard things or have gotten caught up in all the Winter X Games hype exploiting Olympic medalists like Shaun White or Hannah Teeter, you have made a great choice to become a part of the snowboarding community.

      Go into this new adventure with an open mind but more importantly be ready to accept failure. Not to say that you will not ultimately succeed at this sport, however you must not let your spirits get down just because you do not pick it up right away. Snowboarding is just like anything else, it requires patience and practice. Do not expect to just strap in to your bindings and perform Cab 9's in the pipe your first day. As a matter of fact, do not even think about the half pipe your first day. No matter how easy the pros make it look, they have developed and honed their skills for many years and seasons. However, we aren't worried about them this is about you and your first day of snowboarding.

     There are a certain amount of pre-requisites to this new found glory you have stumbled upon. It requires: balance, athleticism, endurance, willingness to learn, ability to accept failure and a few others, two important items to have on hand after your first time snowboarding will be an ice pack and a hot tub. You will soon learn that these two elements will soon become your best friends while learning. There is no getting around this important fact: YOU WILL FALL, AND IT WILL HURT at first. If you can overcome this "bruising" fact before you even get on your first chair lift, you have already succeeded. I can not count how many people I have seen give up this sport just because they fall too much. Falling down is the easy part of snowboarding, getting back up is harder to do. I can not stress this point enough, don't get discouraged and don't give up. Learning how to snowboard requires a lot of patience and practice. Once you realize how to keep yourself balanced and moving forward without falling every 15 feet, the rest will come naturally and you will kick yourself for not trying to snowboard sooner.