Why do you snowboard?

For the adrenaline, for the pit in the stomach, for the fun.

Apr 27, 2023

Growing up in Western India, where the weather felt like a scorching furnace for most of the year and lukewarm in the winters. The only snow I knew of came in a cup with a plastic spoon shoved in its side and sweet tongue coloring syrup drizzled on top. Snow was something you experienced through the TV screens, when Shah Rukh would serenade Kajol in Bollywood songs with snow in the background. It felt like a dreamy scene in far away lands.

When I came to the USA, the feeling of the soft snow melting in my hand during the first snowfall was magical. But over my years of living in Iowa, I dealt with a lot of snow. And if you have a lot of something, you lose its value. I saw so much snow that I started to despise it.

Until I discovered my love for snowboarding.

I moved to the east coast in early 2022 for my new job. Everything was new, the position, the place, the people. I was struggling because I had transitioned from the easygoing and calm life in rural Iowa to the busyness of the big city. Even silly things like not knowing the location of canned tomatoes in the huge grocery store stressed me. So to decompress, I would go to hike the nearby Poconos mountains in the summer.

But when winter came around the corner and brought the gloomy snow with it, I couldn’t go out to hike. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to do. A few of my friends had taken up skiing and invited me on one of their trips. I had never done it before and I was in search of an outdoor activity. So I tagged along with my friends and tried skiing. I had a little fun. But something about watching the snowboarders zoom past me piqued my interest and I decided to try snowboarding.

The first few hours were the worst. My legs cramped in the first 5 minutes, and I fell down on my butt all the time trying to find my balance. But I was determined to try, so I went snowboarding again. When I could finally balance myself on the snowboard and control my speed, I felt proud of my success.

I quickly developed a taste for it and soon enough I bought my season pass that let me explore all the nearby mountains. I rented my snowboard, bought all my gear, and scoured the internet for all snowboarding advice for beginners. I was ready for my season.

Every friday night before a trip, I had a ritual. I would pack my gear neatly into my bag, tighten my snowboard bindings with a screwdriver, fill up my water bottles, lay out my clothes on the sofa, and pack my breakfast. Then on Saturday morning, I was so stoked that I would wake before the alarm and quickly get ready to drive with friends to a nearby resort.

I started on the bunny hills -the slopes for beginners to practice. I watched YouTube videos and knew what to practice for each weekend - toe edge, heel edge, S-turns. I fell down a lot. But over the course of the season, I gradually worked my way up to the steepest slopes, the black diamonds.

But the journey from the bunny hills to the black diamonds wasn’t easy. And despite the falls, the sore arms, and cramped legs, the feeling of letting go while still being in control was exhilarating.

The pit in the stomach you get when you look at the steep downhill in front of your eyes, the base of the mountain visible, sensing the height that you have come up and the same height that you have to go down. The world around you disappears as you are zoned in flying down the mountain. Ten minutes later, you are at the bottom of the mountain huffing and puffing, proud as you look up at the top and see how far up you were a few minutes ago.

The adrenaline rush of sliding on snow at 50 kmph felt like a rollercoaster ride on steroids, with every turn taking your breath away and leaving you feeling exhilarated.

I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would become a snowboarder. Coming from India, snow was something you could only see on TV. It is very uncommon for an Indian to be snowboarding. Of the several different resorts we went to this season, we probably saw a dozen Indians. So naturally, all my friends and family when they hear me gush about snowboarding, the first question they have is, “ Why do you snowboard?”

Snowboarding is a fun winter activity no doubt. But I realized snowboarding was more than that. My move from Iowa was stressful and I was running low on confidence. Learning to snowboard gave me that shot of confidence. I was falling down, but standing back up and becoming better each time I did it. Learning to snowboard was a slow, tough process. It gave me the feeling of accomplishment and confidence that extends far beyond the slopes. Learning to snowboard made me love snow again. It has been a journey full of falls and triumphs and it feels amazing to call myself a snowboarder.