At only 15 years of age, snowboarding is still in its adolescence. Already an Olympic sport, the snowboard ‘population’ is growing fast — and it’s got that added dash of ‘cool.’. Do you see yourself as the snowboarder ‘type’? Ever wondered what it feels like? Arab News will now give you a beginner’s perspective of snowboarding as one reporter heads to Morgins, Switzerland.
If it’s your first time on the slopes, there is a lot to get used to. First, take in your magical surroundings without pausing every few minutes. Second, dress warmly. This doesn’t mean an extra sweatshirt. If you’re serious about snowboarding, you will undoubtedly wear thermal underwear (vaguely similar to cruelly designed pajamas), a possible extra pair of trousers underneath your ski trousers, and layer upon layer of shirts, followed by fleece followed by ski jacket. It’s cold at 1820 meters, and this winter Morgins reached lows of -35 degrees.
Don’t let the cold put you off, though. If you’re wearing the right gloves, socks, balaclava and goggles, you can then head down to an equipment rental store. One of the stores in Morgins is called Snowline where English speaking attendants kit you out in your own snowboard equipment. While snowboarding has been a giant success all over the world, many still consider it a fad. This reporter, however, has never put on a pair of skis and can only promote the snowboarding experience. Arab News was told that snowboarding was easier to learn first — but who really knows? There is something incredibly comforting, though, about being strapped to only one board as you hurtle down a mountain.
You get your snowboard according to your height; it should reach roughly about to your chin. Next, you try on your snowboard boots. Another plus to snowboarding — the boots are far more comfortable than ski boots. Should you ever try any on, don’t worry; the discomfort your ankles are experiencing is entirely normal. The strange thing about them is that you can’t bend at the ankles. The lower half of your leg stays perpendicular to your foot.
Then your bindings are fitted onto the board. There are two ways to snowboard — regular and goofy. The difference being, in goofy, that you ride right foot forward while in regular, left. If you don’t know the difference, think of how you personally would ride a skateboard. If you don’t skateboard, just pick at random. In time you learn whatever way you’re strapped in, and if you have trouble, it’s just a walk to the store to have them adjusted. Last but not least — your helmet. Even if you aren’t a learner, it’s a good idea. And don’t think helmets detach from your style. Many snowboarders go as far as back protection and wrist guards.
You will need to keep your ski pass somewhere easily accessible when you are on the slopes — you can’t get on the chairlifts without it. Be careful as they are region — specific so make sure your instructor knows how far you can go before you ski down the wrong side of the slope.
here are two places you can rent instructors from in Morgins — The Morgins Ski and Snowboard School, and the Swiss Ski and Snowboard School. Conveniently, the Morgins Ski and Snowboard School is on the same premises as Snowline, so you get your equipment and instructor at the same time. Most of the instructors speak French — Morgins lies in the French region of Switzerland — and English, so they’re doubly useful as menu and sign translators. And once everything’s settled, you can strap one foot into your board, and shuffle awkwardly for the first time onto the chairlift, and up La Foilleuse.
The first thing that hits you as you ascend on the chairlift is the cold. In the shade of the mountain, you’ll find yourself doing up more zips and fastenings the higher you go. It’s all worth it, though, when you turn around and see Morgins sitting blanketed in snow, getting smaller and more picturesque. You’re surrounded by evergreen pines, and as you reach the top of the mountain, the sun breaks through along with the realization that you will have to shuffle off the chairlift now while it is still moving. It’s all part of the experience.
And then you can learn to snowboard. Atop the Foilluese is a small learners’ slope where you typically begin. Your instructor will probably begin by putting you through some warm-up exercises, and will then explain the geography of your board, so you can tell the tail from the nose, and know exactly what he’s talking about when he says fakie (which your well informed reporter can tell you means to snowboard backwards — goofy if you’re regular and vice-versa.)
First you have to be able to stand on your board without sliding off somewhere, which is essentially breaking. You strap yourself in, tightly, and stand with your board parallel to the mountain while you dig your heels in and lean backwards a little, bending your knees. If you loosen your heels slightly, you can slide forward — it’s not really boarding, it’s more permanent breaking. But it gives you confidence that you can control how fast you go and when you stop by adjusting how much you dig your heels in.
Try that backward! Turn around and dig your toes in instead. Theoretically, not being able to see where you’re going is absolutely terrifying, and the four year-old skiers zooming past you don’t do much for ones confidence. At least they’re cute.
You get used to being shown up by toddlers though, and to return to the cliché, practice makes perfect. Alternately, your instructor will show you how to let your board return to its natural position so you slide perpendicular to the mountain, and then break. It’s mostly about controlling your board, and if you do break too suddenly, your helmet and the snow will break your fall.
At the bottom of the small run is another snowboarding experience — a button chairlift — that pulls you on your board up the mini-slope so that you can go down again and again. This is simply a delight you’ll have to be shown how to do. There’s nothing wrong with falling off the chairlift the first few times.
Snowboarding is, admittedly, incredibly tiring. Slowly, you build up to turns and when your instructor thinks you’re confident enough, you may head down the mountain on runs of varying difficulty. Youll get impatient to hit the other slopes, but until you’re ready it’s not worth it, because you can tire yourself easily. And by the end of the day you’ll be feeling aches in places you didn’t even know you had.
Depending on what you’ve arranged with your instructor, you may have a morning and afternoon session each day. By the time you’re finished, you’ll be craving a hot shower, some hot chocolate and dry clothes.
The second day snowboarding feels like the worst, because you’re stiff, and have to go through the whole routine again. If you keep at it, though, you’ll actually be able to enjoy snowboarding as you feel more confident. You can set the pace with your instructor, and choose the runs that you enjoy the most. The view is spectacular, and every now and then it dawns on you where you are and everything feels a little bit better.
There are moments you can’t be sure whether you want to laugh or cry — if you lose your momentum and get stuck on a level part of the slope, you’ll either have to shuffle your board along or take one foot off and effectively skateboard it. The smug skiers will go past pushing themselves along with their ski poles. Console yourself with your self-perceived style. And there will be moments when you will definitely laugh. Try jumping, for example, or see what it’s like to get stuck in deep off-piste snow. Not on purpose though. That would just be silly.
So why is snowboarding cool? Is it the care-free attitude to life that it seems to represent? The brand names that have turned every teenager into a wannabe surfer and snowboarder? Yes, that. And the fact that you get to play in the snow for hours on end.
The Snowline website http://www.m3s.ch/ has all its rental prices available online
Warning: If you buy your own kit, the airline may charge you to take your skis/snowboards.
