How Did You Get Into Snowboarding???
we all know snowboarding is a wicked sport but how did you get into it???
was it your friends, boy/girl friend, some random or just the curiosity of what snowboarding was like let us know.
Amakat
I grew up surfing and was completely obsessed with it. In my early teens, my mum decided to take us on a family trip to the snow. I actually didn’t want to go to the snow and tried to convince her to take us somewhere I could surf. I honestly didn’t even know what snowboarding was at the time. I thought, you go to the snow, you ski. So I went to the snow for two days and skied (actually had a really fun time on skis). But then I saw these guys flying down the hill on boards. At that moment I was completely blown away. I thought, ‘wow, you can do that on snow?’. I was instantly hooked before I even tried it. I spent the next year dreaming about snowboarding, even more obsessed than I ever was with surfing. For the whole year before I even got to try snowboarding, I had posters on my wall and spent most days reading about snowboards and buying magazines. A year later I finally got to go riding, and I have never looked back. Snowboarding is my life.
as a pre teen i had a ski holiday with the family every second year. Back then i cant really remember seeing snowboards about, though im sure they were. Throughout my teens i was really into skating, but as we were traveling a lot persuing an elite junior tennis career till i was 18 we stopped going to the snow. I stopped skating due to the risk of injuries. When i was 19 and in uni i was keen to get back to the snow and went on an anual trip with some mates and boarded as i had always wanted to do it. From then on i was hooked
I had skateboarded since grade school, like grade 5 maybe?
So, I guess I was 10 or 11 yrs old. My brother was a coupel years older and he got into it, so I followed suit. I stuck with it more than he did, I identifyed with it, I made friends because of it etc.
When it came time to go on a Church “ski trip” the decision was obvious… ski or board? I never tried skiing. I was easily hooked. Of course the first day on the snow, my wife, who I was dating at the time was with me… and a few others. Soon after that trip. I HAD to go again. my girl and I went a few times ourselves that winter until I had 5 days in by the season’s end.
The following summer (1998) we got married. We moved in together about 45 min down the road from out hometown and attended college. During college we started teaching snowboarding together to be able to snowboard a lot and not have to pay for it all the time. and even get paid for doing it. Teaching became a fun thing for me to do.
during college I was snowboarding so much, it cost me an extra year in college. taking 4 years to do what should have took only 3 for me. but oh well.
That was all about 12 years ago now, as it is my summer of 2010. wow.
I had been skiing for a few years and noticed with every year that there was more and more snowboarders on the mountain.
While booking a one day trip on a bus, I was just thinking “Screw it, I’ll give it a go!”
I have never looked back since! I had so much fun and it was a challenge! I found skiing very very easy so it was good to try something different and have some fun while doing it.
When i first went to the snow for the first time all i wanted to do was snowboard. Unfortunately during a lesson i took out like 10 people and thought maybe this isn’t for me, so I switched to skiis. After 5 years on skiis, i went screw this I want to snowboard or at least try again. So last year i bought my board, boots and went down. Had 2 days of lessons and was up riding around Perisher and Smiggins. Was so much fun. This year i got some new bindings and I am ready to go again. Learning to carve properly and all that type of stuff. But i just enjoy going down the mountain at whatever capability I am at.
Went on a trip with a bunch of mates/strangers to NZ in 1995 - I had never even seen snow until then. Before going my mate tells me its going to be a week of ski/snowboard holiday so would I like to ski or snowboard? I had seen boarding on the TV and thought “wow thats pretty cool!”, so chose boarding. I should add I never surfed or skateboarded in my life (in fact I still haven’t!). For some reason I knew I was going to love it before even trying it so bought all the gear, except a board & bindings for the trip. Turned up, had a few lessons and everything just kinda clicked. 400+ days of riding later and I still love it 
After 1st year of UNI transferred to a different campus, walking down a hall with a friend saw a poster for skiing/snowboarding for gym credit. I had never heard of snowboarding and we thought this was a great idea, so signed up, and had a blast, even on notorious hardpack and ice. Took the same class next two seasons (they placed you at difficulty level), then one more winter before I decided conditions must be better somewhere other than New England weather patterns, so I packed up and drove west. Snowboarding pretty much full time around 6 resorts the next 4 years until I met my girl, moved to Australia and married her- our honeymoon was in Queenstown 
been sporadic since with moving around, 2 big trips to the states, and only a couple times here wich a hope to remedy.
My parents got me skiing when I was around 4 years old and did that up until I was around 13 or so.. Could go all over the mountain on skis so wanted to try out snowboarding, no idea why I wanted to swap over and go back to being a beginner again but haven’t looked back ever since. Since doing the season overseas it’s become and even bigger aspect of my life. After the weekend just passed I can tell I’m a lifer with the sport. Met up with a bunch of lifty mates from over in whistler and went belting around with them and it was honestly the most fun I’ve had since getting back from whistler, nothing has really come close to gettign me that stoked since getting back. Couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day even though the snow was rubbish. Made me realise that the sport and act of doing it is one thing but the mates I go out there with play just as bigger role in making it what it is for me.
Never having gone to the snow before in my life, I jumped at the opportunity in first year uni to go on a Snow trip. My knees had taken a bit of a beating in soccer, so I decided to give boarding a go rather than ski as it was easier on my knees.
After that first run when I managed to not stack, I was completely hooked. Now 6 years later, my mates always look to me to organize all our ski trips.
Well i was born in the Swiss alps with a ski and snowbaord instructor for a mum so it was just a question of time before i started to firstly ski and then later snowboard
everybodys got a cool story, me not realy.
growing up in the snowymountains in australia i hardly ever got to go there though.
i did sking a few time but didn’t know if it was for me and i though that i was alright at skateboarding i beged my perants till
they gave in and thats how i got into it 
everybodys got a cool story, me not realy.
growing up in the snowymountains in australia i hardly ever got to go there though.
I find it interesting how many of those that live really close to the resorts, seem to never go. Or just dont ski/ride at all.
I never went as a kid. When I was 20 (bro 18) he went to the snow with people from his work… I thought it was cool and then the next year, I went with my mates he went with his and the year after we purchased a $1000 package together and shared, then last year, I went and did a season.
The first year I went, my mate organised to go on the actual day of my 21st party… so we talked him into going the next weekend where I was going to a Sum41 concert, so 2 of them went down on a bus tour and the rest of us drove down from midnight till 5am from cambelltown and then rented at cooma and went boarding straight away. We got free accom with a friend of a friend in Cooma (we slipped him a hundred at the end).
When we got to Thredbo, me and 1 friend had a lesson for first timers. We got put in a group of about 15, including a group of about 10 Asian girls who were friends, only 2 or 3 could speak engrish. So we get to the top of the hill and they teach falling leaf… as normal, all falling over etc, half way down friday flats, me, my mate and another guy had that down pat and they told us to go to the bottom and wait. 10 minutes later and everyone else catches up. We go to the top again and then they tell us to go down to the bottom again to practice… We get to the bottom pretty quick and 15 mins later, nobody else has shown up… so we gave up on the lesson and went up by ourselves.
By the end of the weekend, we were going up and down Merrits and I wanted to do High Noon but I asked someone and they said it might be too hard (which it wouldn’t have lol) So I caught the lift back down. After that weekend, I was hooked! And after my trip to Europe, I quit my job 3 months later and I moved to the snow to live there last season.
I now have a good job so I will only be getting 10-12 days down at the snow this year 
Yeah it’s funny how doing a season changes your approach, it becomes apparent that you won’t settle for one week here and there. After doing my season overseas it’s all thats on my mind now, thus wy I’m doing a bunch of w/e trips now as compared to beforehand where it’d be taking a week off work to head down for a 5 day trip etc.
Late last year I decided I’m going to resign from my current job at the end of this year and go move overseas for 18+ months. (been working for the same company for the past 5 and a half years with a 6 month career break in there to go do the season). Figure I’m young once so I can only get away with doing it for a little while longer, a job is replaceable but this period of my life isn’t.
finney - it sounds like a good plan. It might sound like a cliche, but those “life experiences” one gains from “doing a season” are priceless. If the opportunity arose I would encourage anyone to “go for it”.....If you are skilled enough, you can always find another job in your area…....you are only young once.
I have done 2 seasons (no working, all play!) with plans of doing another one in the next 2-3 seasons (paying off a mortgage has delayed the plan a bit)....don’t want to grow old and think back wishing I did this and that….....