Emil+Kowalski

The First Ride

As you clip in your last binding, take your first glide on the snow for the season, you, the board, and the mountain are one, in complete harmony. It is every snowboarder’s cup of tea to hit up the mountain for the first time of the year and have pure basic fun. Well, that was nothing close to my feelings of going snowboarding when I started. Each slope was accompanied with a hope of not crashing, falling, or breaking anything worth living with. On the actual ride to Virginia I could not fall asleep. The emotions of happiness and fear were fighting as if in a war. “Once you get on the mountain, you’ll see that there is many new people riding and learning just like you!” She exclaimed frantically. “Mmmmmph that is what you always say and then it turns out to be not true!” I talked back to my mother impolitely. “Do not speak to your mother that way!” My father ordered. After that I just sat quietly and waited for the ride to end. I was still not convinced;I needed to see for myself. A couple long hours later the sign, “Welcome to Virginia,” greeted me with anticipation. Those 5 hours of driving finally paid off as we pulled into the driveway of our new home for the rest of this week and a half. The home was right next the mountain and other homes that looked similar. Luckily, the day we arrived, the ground was covered by a thin blanket of snow and even more was coming. As I picked up my duffle bag, snow landed directly onto my left eye causing me to horribly spaz out and knock my sister to her knees. Her face grew pale with embarrassment, but anger lingered inside her waiting for payback. When I entered the home, to my astonishment, it was far more luxurious than I had expected it to be. Right as you entered, there were two marble columns that had a navy blue, starry night-like color. The walls had a peachy-white color blending in with the bathroom and kitchen. The bathroom sparkled with white in every corner; it had a Jacuzzi, TV, a bathtub and a nice shower that had jets that sprayed every corner of your body. An LCD TV, a long maroon colored couch and two reclining chairs made up the spacious living room. I climbed up the stairs and met 4 doors. Each one made of grained wood with silver door knobs. I turned the first one and walked into my soon to be bedroom. It had a king size bed with pure white and black sheets and pillows. The walls were a navy blue with white stripes. It had a private bathroom with a bath and a shower. The floor was a snow white marble and sink the exact same. “Emil, come help me for a sec!” My dad yelled in frustration. The first day we had to use to settle in, so we did the basic procedures of a vacation trip. We unpacked our things and sorted everything out, well at least I did because my sisters room was a complete mess. I also watched some TV and went to sleep really late which was a not such a good idea. Monster came to my rescue that morning since I was flat out empty of energy. After the basic morning process of brushing teeth and hogging bathrooms (sister), we went onto the mountain for the first time. Buying lift tickets and instructors for me and my sister was very time consuming. After all that haggling and waiting, we finally got our skis and my board since I was the only soon-to-be snowboarder there. Holding my board and walking onto the snow I still love to ride on to this day, made me have the biggest smile. My instructor was a guy named Jeff. By his attitude toward teaching and the sport of snowboard, I knew he had mastered the mountain as they say. He first taught me how to click in bindings securely so that they don’t fall off while riding. Clipping in the first binding was fine, but clipping in the second made have this funny feeling as if I had belonged to this sport. I first learned the technique of snake gliding which is sliding down a hill with your board totally sideways. That was learned by me within the first day. The next day on the mountain I had the same instructor. This time we went onto the mountain and not the bunny hill. I had lots and lots of butterflies in my stomach, but have of them were for excitement. Jeff showed the basic form of really riding a snowboard and how to save yourself when you fall. I tried and the first ride was full of falling and failing. After having the basic idea of riding, I knew I would be a rider of the mountain for a long time. Crashing was a big part of learning, and it had to happen for me to learn. Now, I look back at those days of how I was riding, and see how pathetic of a rider I was compared to my skill and style of riding now. If I hadn’t started riding that day, I would have never learned that snowboarding would someday be a big part of my life and I surely never have guessed that I would win second place in Mountain Dew’s junior freestyle tour. From this memory I have learned that when and if you ever have a chance to try something, do it and you might turn out loving it. Everybody learns in some form or another, but all will end up enjoying what they love one way or another.

Author’s Note

Snowboarding may seem like just a sport to many people, but to me it is a passion or a goal I have to fulfill before I pass away. It all started out with a single push down the mountain and now turned into a love of a sport. It has been and still is a great way to exercise and have fun and maybe even sometimes be a stress reliever. With all the homework and school to do over the time period, I have absolutely no time to have any sort of fun. Going out and snowboarding for me feels like I’m just escaping myself and the world and having all my problems be relieved. Since that day I have changed my way of living. It made me a lot more athletic and way more outgoing in many situations. If you could believe it or not, I was always the quiet kid in class in kindergarten through the third grade, but now I am a complete pain in the butt for teachers because of my endless talking. The way this sport impact my life is indescribable and I am happy to have this sport as a part of my life!