Okay snowboarders snowboard. Amazing snowboarders snowboard A LOT.
What do I mean by this? I mean that one thing separating an okay snowboarder from an amazing snowboarder is the way they spend the time they have available to snowboard.
Let’s me put it this way…
If I gave every snowboarder $5 million dollars to move to a ski resort and never work again, I’d be willing to bet that most people won’t snowboard anywhere near as much as they could.
How do I know this? Well every year I meet 10-15 new housemates, most of whom are visiting Whistler for a season. These people have PLENTY of time to snowboard and most of them won’t be working during the ski season.
So if the lifts open from 9am to 3pm (ish), how much time do you think my housemates will spend snowboarding each day? Probably about 3 hours per day, plus most of them will only snowboard about 4 days per week.
I’m not saying this is good or bad, I’m just saying this is how it is for most people doing a season at a ski resort. Most people have other activities they want to do besides snowboard all day.
The amazing snowboarder
If I compare those housemates to any of those kickass snowboarders you see on the ski hill you know what I’ll find?
I’ll find that even while working a job on the side, those kickass snowboarders will all spend WAY more hours on the hill than the average season ski bum. That’s why they become the amazing snowboarders you see on the ski slopes.
And you know why these guys end up snowboarding so much more? They’ve found their ‘it’ in snowboarding.
What’s ‘it’ and why does it make you snowboard more?
‘It’ is what I see when I take aside any awesome snowboarder and ask them to describe their perfect day on the slope. The smile that goes across their face and the expression they make is why they spend so much of their free time snowboarding.
Sure they could go home an hour or two early or maybe they kind of want to stay home and watch that entire season of Lost on dvd, but ‘it’ keeps them snowboarding.
‘It’ is something they absolutely love about snowboarding.
What this means for you:
If you want to become an amazing snowboarder, find your ‘it’. It can be more than one ‘it’.
For me, it’s that feeling I get when I’m snowboard alone and it’s just me and the mountain. It’s the feeling I get when I float that perfect 360 over a nice jump. It’s heading to the slope in the morning knowing I’m going to figure out that one trick today.
Your ‘it’ doesn’t have to be the same as mine. Maybe you hate park. Maybe you even hate powder. It’s all okay. Find the things about snowboarding that you love.
For a friend of mine, his ‘it’ is hiking for an hour or two to get that perfect run of fresh powder before anyone else. For another friend it’s taking a sled into the backcountry and finding that perfect line.
‘It’ is why you can confidently tell me why you love snowboarding. When you find that ‘it’, I’ll be willing to bet that you’re on your path to becoming an amazing snowboarder.
|
 |
Which is the best technique to learn snowboarding? I want to learn it with proper way.