Are you an avid skier or do prefer riding a snowboard? I had picked up snowboarding in my college years, but was never really that great at it (I’ll explain more below) so I defaulted to skiing. I also picked up quite a few fears along the way and those fears have grown since having kids. I am afraid of falling, terrified of running into someone else and making that person fall, I also don’t love speeding down the mountain. I work so hard helping my children overcome their fears, seldom do I work on my own fears. Until now. One of the ways I conquered my fears mentioned above was through snowboarding lessons. Thank you to Epic Pass, Northstar California Resort and Burton Snowboarding academy for helping me conquer these fears!
This year, I have the privilege of working with Epic Pass as an ambassador. Epic Pass provides unlimited, unrestricted (no blackout dates) skiing or snowboarding to 19 resorts. You can find resorts in Tahoe, Utah, Colorado, Canada and more. Check it out here for next season.
Let me give you a little background: When I was younger (late teens), my parents signed me up for private skiing lessons. It took double the time expected to get me down the hill (did I mention I do not like going fast?!) and my parents joked that the ski instructor must have quit right after my lesson. It was a joke and we laughed and somehow that thought that I shouldn’t do private lessons nested in my brain a little bit. When snowboarding became more and more popular, I wanted to try it. Instead of learning from a certified instructor, I learned from my fried who had only been on a snowboard three times in her life. I picked up a lot of bad habits, like staying on my heel edge the whole time (ouch!) or I would control my speed/stop by purposely falling (double ouch!!). Eventually the novelty wore off and it was not fun for me to snowboard.
Fast forward to today, my husband loves to snowboard and is really good at it and of course my kids want to try to snowboard too. I did not want my fears and lack of proper learning to hold us back from doing something as a family. So when the Northstar Resort gave me the opportunity to take a lesson at the Burton Snowboarding Academy, I pushed those childhood voices aside and gladly accepted.
We arrived at the Burton Snowboarding Academy at Northstar California Resort. This is the only Burton Snowboarding Academy in the world and not only do they have incredible instructors; they also have the latest and greatest gear (some of which has not been released yet!). Even though my husband is comfortable snowboarding, he joined in on the lesson to support me and to also pick up some new tips. We met our instructor, Maya, who took us up to get fitted for our gear. I was setup with a Learn to Ride (LTR) board and boots. The LTR system is more flexible and forgiving for those starting to snowboard.
Maya took us to the Learning Terrain and addressed my concerns. She focused on getting me comfortable with my toe edge and also taught me how to control my speed and stop without falling. Of course I fell quite a few times. It wasn’t terrible, although I was a little envious of the people wearing the plush (affiliate link) turtle shell pillows on their bums. The thing is the fun outweighed any falls or near-falls. It also helped that our instructor was so positive and encouraging! After attacking the learning terrain most of the day, we were ready for our first real run; The Big Easy.
It felt amazing to put what Maya taught me into practice on the mountain. Not only did I conquer my fears of falling or going to fast, I did something for myself that felt freeing. I put so much time teaching my kids to try new things and not be afraid of failure and somewhere along the way I forgot to give myself the same pep talk. Our weekend at Northstar’s Burton Snowboarding Academy gave me the same confidence that I try to instill in my children. And for that, I am forever grateful!
Have you ever tried snowboarding? What was your experience like?
Check out the video of my experience:
With love,
Shahla
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