It just takes a little courage

I'm starting to get a hang of this whole snowboarding thing. I had a great day out on the mountain yesterday. Granted, the weather could have been a lot better. When I wasn't drowning in the loose powder of a less-traveled course, I was being pelted in the face with flecks of snow.

But along the way I learned how to turn. It came down to not someone teaching me, but to me being ready and having the little bit of courage it takes.

In snowboarding you have two "sides" of your board, the heel side and the toe side. When I started, I learned how to slide down the hill on my heel side. From there, it was drifting on my heel side back and forth and down the mountain. With heelside, you lean back. So once I got that down, people tried to teach me to do toe side. It wouldn't happen. I was terrified of falling on my face. I DID fall on my face.

But yesterday, while my friends were off on other courses, it was just me and the mountain. And we made it work. Forgetting the fear of falling, the fear of inadequacy, I did it. I made my first toe side turns, and then going in little circles down the hill. It's not really a trick...but in my mind...it kinda is a trick.

Snowboarding is a lot more fun if you think you're doing tricks!