Personal Narrative: Snowboarding

Snowboarding has reached a height in popularity that has some didn’t think was possible. The snow boring industry has grown by a tenfold by now grossing 5 billion dollars a year. Many companies have invested millions of dollars into

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.

It was pleasant enough to be able to stand comfortably outside in a light jacket or sweatshirt. A perfect day to glide down a powdery mountain along with my best friend. The anticipation was building as I sat in the back of Mrs. Smith’s eighth grade classroom. In a matter of minutes I would be packing my gear into the car and traveling toward impending doom: Sundown Mountain, twenty one runs of exhilaration and danger. At that point in time I didn’t know whether to be excited or nervous. Snowboarding was completely new to me, not too much different than skiing except for the fact that my balance would be shifted differently. I struggled enough as it was keeping my balance on skis. How could I possibly be able to successfully maintain my balance on a board?

Falling over and over onto the dense sleet surface, with snow penetrating what’s left keeping you warm; your initial experience of snowboarding. Similar to other learning experiences, but perhaps not as harsh. Learning is a journey filled with challenges and sometimes failures. What determines the outcome is whether you can persevere and receive the everlasting reward of success. Learning is what you make of it, may it be learning to snowboard or applying it into the classroom setting. It will be an enriching skill you will be able to apply universally.

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.

Cross country is a sport that can change the way people see themselves. I can only say this statement because I have been affected by this myself. During this satisfying sport I would constantly find myself lost in the moment. Not realizing how much this sport has meant to myself. Now that I have seen just about everything this sport has to offer I can relive some of the valuable life lessons that cross country has taught me.

People called me crazy or bizarre, but I called myself determined. Crazy and bizarre refers being passionately excited and out of the ordinary, while determined refers to being relentless. Together these words perfectly described the actions I took to play ice hockey my freshman and sophomore year of highschool.

Let’s go back to a cold winter day at Shawnee Peak in Bridgeton, Maine. I was discussing my dilemma of what to do for the upcoming sports season with my ski coach. I have been playing softball for the past 12 years, but this year something felt different…I wasn’t interested. The past season was quite rough, getting to the point where I was seriously thinking about quitting the team. I knew I didn’t want to go back to that, but I needed something else to occupy my time. While talking to my ski coach he mentioned playing lacrosse because it was the first year being offered at my school. I quickly responded with “but I don’t want to have to run!”. He assured me that if I was the goalie there would be minimal running. My coach also added that it

I heard a soft whooshing sound as my skis slid across the soft powdered snow, which glistened in the winter sun. I felt practically no wind and it was the perfect temperature to prevent both slush, all in all the conditions were perfect for a day of skiing with my family. I was accompanied by my mom, uncle, and about 8 cousins. We had all woken up at the crack of dawn and began the hour and a half journey to Mount Sunapee, which for us is the prime skiing location. About eight at the time i had only been skiing for about two years and i was still very weary of my skiing skills and i often fell. Today though was going well, i had not fallen once and i was getting into the groove. I had a few close calls but i began to grow confidence in myself

On December 20, 2015 Nick, Evan, Teekay and Jake went snowboarding at Little Switzerland. Jake and Evan came late because they were at a basketball game. Nick and Teekay had been already been at the ski hill for about an hour and were already warmed up. Teekay had not gone skiing for a couple years so he was basically new. Jake was also was a new snowboarder, he had snowboarded a year or two ago but fell and got hurt so he went back to skiing. Nick and Evan on the other hand had been snowboarding for multiple years and had a fair amount of experience. Little did Evan, Nick, Teekay and Jake know that this night was going to be a hard long night for them.

Ever since that moment I realized how much I want to help people in distress and possibly save lives. Now I find myself only a few months away from having a cross of my own on my back and helping other people on the mountain. After two years of being told “you're too young and there's no choice but to wait,” so I could get a head start at becoming a member of the decorated Snow Summit Ski Patrol team . While the only thing left to do is pass some the tests, every year I come closer to the patrol family and one step closer to leaving a mark and standing out in our team. For several months I would drive up to Big Bear every other weekend to attend a hands on portion of a first-aid class, while Wednesday's our group would attend a conference call

One skill I possess is the ability to snowboard., I have a lot more confidence in my ability to glide down a mountain now because of past failures and fears that I have had to overcome. One example of a fear I have had to overcome is the fear of catching an edge on my board. This fear of an unknown flip caused me to become a really cautious snowboarder. It took me until this year to really start becoming more of an adventurous snowboarder. This included me starting to actually start going for jumps and tricks in the terrain park, which came with a lot of injuries. I also Another thing I started doing differently was changeding up how I went down the mountain. Before I would find myself going slowly making my way to the bottom making sure I

Over the past sixteen years I’ve watched my daughter grow into a beautiful young adult. In middle was the start of her field hockey career that she has still played into her sophomore year and years to come. She is on the high school ski team and has learned how to become a ski racer. It was and still is a challenged because her first year ever to ski race was as freshmen year. Every sport she plays she puts her all into and is persistent. Every year my daughter grows and shows me how capable and trustworthy she is. I trust my daughter and I know that she will make good decisions while driving out on the road and in general.

My love for ice skating started when I was 4 years old because I wasn't old enough to stay home I had to see my older sister would go to basic and I would see her fly around like a monkey. I thought it looked like a lot of fun so I asked my Mom “Can I start to ice skate?” she said yes and that's where it all began.

I have always wondered what skiing is like. Last winter I decided to go with my youth group on our ski trip. We drove around 6 hours to Wisconsin for a ski trip with my youth group. This would be my first time ever going skiing. It was also my first overnight trip with the youth group. We packed up the trailer, the bus, and the two vans. We headed out 50 of us in all. We arrived at the camp in the evening on Saturday.