Just something I randomly wrote:
Oh great gods of snowboarding, have you no mercy? It's not even mid october, and I already have that feeling in my bones.
Anyone who snowboards knows exactly what I'm talking about. You know that watering in your mouth you get before you eat a big juicy steak? It's kind of like that, but you feel it in your legs. Your calf muscles literally burn with the anticipation of lactic acid and your knees ache, begging to be put through the grind of 7 brutal hours cutting through powder. Your entire lower body is literally begging you to get off your lazy ass and onto the nearest snow covered hill.
But it's only October, and with no snow in the forecast for at least another month, all you can hope to do is ride out your case of snowboarding blue balls. Watching Burton video teasers on youtube or dusting off your X-Box and playing a few rounds of Amped may help to tide you over, but nothing comes close to strapping those bindings on for real.
It was during these confusing days that a girl once asked me jokingly, or so I thought, if I would rather go snowboarding or on a date with her. In hindsight, I should have lied. As soon as I saw the dejected look on her face I knew I had fucked up, and I never recovered.
But what did she expect? It was during one of those cold november nights when the temperature first dips below freezing-- when you can literally count on two hands the sleeps until the first snowfall. No question of “would you rather _____ or go snowboarding” will warrant a different answer.
To the casual observer, my love affair with snowboarding may seem a little strange. I was born and raised in a relatively hill-less part of the world, and even after nine years I would still describe myself as 'mediocre at best' at the sport. So why do I love it so much? Simply because it offers so much freedom.
Snowboarding has always been a sanctuary for me. From the moment you get to the hill until the second you leave, your mind is on a different plane. You could be failing class, getting picked on at school, fighting with your girlfriend or your parents or your friends-- it doesn't matter. As you walk out of the car a feeling washes over you, and all of a sudden none of that shit matters. It's you, 3 friends, and about 10 pounds of fibreglass-- nothing else.
There's no way to score points, no way to win or lose, no us vs. them mentality that you get from team sports, no real rules, and nobody playing against you. Because of this, snowboarding creates a very positive culture, in which the true pillars of sport-- fun and personal growth-- are paramount to competition and the negativity it breeds. It's impossible to cheat in snowboarding because there are no rules to break. It's impossible to be a sore loser because it's impossible to lose. Nobody boos you when you land a trick, and only assholes laugh at you when you fall.
Don't get me wrong, there is competition in snowboarding, but by the sports very nature it's friendly and productive. When you see somebody else do something cool, you immediately want to do it too, and better than they just did. But that's only human nature. For snowboarding, the competition ends at making them look bad. You don't feel good when somebody eats shit, and you can't help but cheer when they land something sick. Even in mano-a-mano competition like the X-Games, you'll always see snowboarders cheer when their opponents land something spectacular. This isn't done in compliance with some ancient unwritten rule like clapping between points in tennis-- it comes naturally from the positive attitude that snowboarding is rooted in.
The most challenging competition in snowboarding comes not from an opponent, but from within you. This is where the magic of snowboarding lies. Because you have nobody to outperform, you can grow at your own level and push your boundaries at a comfortable pace. If you fall while trying a new trick, it's not game over. All that normally happens is you look a bit stupid and maybe hurt a little bit, but that physical pain is nothing compared to how good you feel once you land it. The feeling is addictive. Once you get that trick down and it doesn't feel so good to land anymore, you keep pushing for your fix, aiming for something bigger and better. You may never be as good as Shaun White, but you'll always be better than you were the day before. And if you have a shitty day, there's always tomorrow. At least until the offseason starts.
Which brings us back to mid-October blue balls...
If you live south of the Arctic circle, the cruel reality is that for at least 6 months a year there isn't any snow on the ground. I guess the only problem with snowboarding is that, oddly enough, you need snow to do it.
Wait, scratch that. There's nothing wrong with snowboarding. Let me rephrase that; the problem with our climate is that it doesn't snow every god damn day.
