Switching Sports Wasn't Easy

As a footballer for most of my life, aggression has been a central theme. Even during a light scrimmage, most put their pride on the line. Cross that line and be ready to body or get bodied. If you go in soft then you get rocked so 'get stuck in' and try to come out with the ball rather than a card. The more competitive the games, the more physical they become (without too much interference from the referee). The passion I once felt for my sport has slowly shifted into a winter sport; snowboarding.

Similar to the feel of landing a solid two footed sliding tackle, the force of the snow under the board (on sharp turns and steep cliffs) is what really drew me in to the sport. There are a lot of similarities between the two, as they both heavily involve footwork, leg strength, and surefooted coordination. Failure to train one's upper body also has similar consequences... body or get bodied.

On the snow, I'm a self-taught "expert" yet still very amateur, eager to learn and improve each day. "Aggressive Stances" sums up my riding style, whether in a regular or goofy stance because after all, there's only one way to go, forward. I am often looking for challenging/technical terrain to test my techniques and recently started posting some of my training on YouTube.

How it all started...

My family got together for a Christmas [2007] in Portland and decided to be tourists for a day at Mt. Hood. Having never truly experienced snow; I had on a light jacket, beanie, and jeans... perfect gear for hanging out in the lodge by the fireplace. Along the way, we stopped to buy some winter boots and gloves... we were solidly underprepared. My dad spent most of the time complaining about the cold and after a brief stay at the Timberline Lodge we decided to head back.

even in the Timberline parking lot...
pops found a way to threaten me...
you're welcome for the jacket

On the way down the mountain we saw a small [Cooper Spur Mountain] resort with tubing and pulled over to check it out. My brother had taken a snowboarding class in college and was an intermediate level rider... actually, he took the class twice; the second semester as an instructor, just to ensure he was out on the mountain every weekend. It didn't take much to get me excited to try it out and we scored a deal [$20] on the lift ticket and rentals since there were only a couple hours left in the day... I think the guy at the shop seeing us in jeans did us a solid.

In a rush, we geared up and headed straight to the lift... yep, straight to the lift! On the way up I only wanted to know one thing... how do I stop? After a quick verbal explanation, I felt I was ready to go. Just before we reached the top, I realized we might have missed a few details and asked how I was supposed to dismount... which he quickly explained just before we had to unload.. whew! It didn't take much to come to my first stop and that little boost of confidence was all I needed. I skated over to the slope, chucked the deuces, click-clacked into the clip-in bindings, and pointed my board straight down the hill. Straight and fast then smash the brakes... rinse and repeat... lap one complete.

The first run down was exhilarating and I even popped one foot out of the bindings from the chatter of the board at high speeds. I immediately got back on the lift and went for another round... and finally a third. By the end of the third run my jeans were soaked and my body temperature was starting to drop... so I returned the gear, grabbed a hot drink, and ran to the van to warm up. The whole ride home was full of excitement as I had just discovered and new journey to embark on...