This Winter, I Learned How to Snowboard

Sunrise at Mt. Bachelor this winter.

Somehow, it's been nearly five years since starting this blog. In that time, I've graduated college, travelled a lot (until the pandemic hit), explored different career options, gotten a motorcycle, and moved a total of eight times (soon to be nine). Needless to say, I'm longing for a sense of stability right about now.

I suppose that you may be wondering where I'm currently living – and, given my propensity for moving around, you're not wrong in doing so. Last March, I moved to Bend, Oregon. I'm still here now, and not planning on leaving any time soon.

There are many reasons why I like it here, why Bend is coming closer and closer to feeling like "home." If you've followed me at all over the last five years, you'll know that "home" is a place and feeling that I've been chasing for a long time. As an international transplant from a young age, I've always felt torn between multiple worlds. Going to college on the other side of the country, moving around a lot, and dating long distance are just some of the factors that have increased my sense of displacement, of not truly belonging somewhere. While it's still too early to tell whether I belong in Bend (especially given the town's localist tendencies), it certainly has some good things going for it.

Arguably the best part of living here is the accessibility to outdoor sports. I don't mean this lightly; there's a reason this town has drawn so many outdoor-enthusiasts. From snow sports to water sports to world-class rock climbing; there's something for everyone. Needless to say, I'm learning a lot. Despite growing up largely in Southern California, my exposure to adventure sports was limited to surfing and a biannual 6-mile hike in the mountains. Here, I'm learning to fly fish and, most recently, snowboard!

Me learning how to fly fish – yes, even in the winter!

I come from a family of five kids, so it was nearly out of the question for our parents to take us skiing over the holidays. Not only because of the immense financial burden, but also the emotional challenge of getting everyone in the car, driving hours to a mountain with enough snow on it, getting rentals, and taking lessons. Despite all of this, my parents somehow managed to give us several opportunities to ski when we were young.

I never even considered that there was an option besides skiing in these rare excursions to the mountains – skiing was what my parents used to do on family trips to the European alps, and so it was naturally what we did, too. I never questioned it.

Years later, our family once again got together over the holidays to go skiing, this time with most of us as adults. I liked the experience and loved the thrill of going downhill, but it felt like something was missing. Was I just not passionate about snow sports? Or was it something else?

When I first moved to Bend a year ago, I had a bad fall while bouldering that resulted in a fractured elbow. I hadn't planned on skiing the tail-end of that season anyway, but it was still devastating to have my activities limited so shortly after moving. Next year would be the year for exploring the mountain, I thought. However, the ski season ended up going so long that I not only had time to heal but also to get out a few times on skis! Even though I'd had the opportunity to ski more than a dozen times by then, I wasn't quite comfortable on skis – they felt like heavy metal sticks bound awkwardly to my feet. I would look across the mountain and see people on single boards riding down, carving into the snow as if they were surfing an endless wave. I wondered if snowboarding felt as good as it looked. By the end of the spring, I decided that I would learn to snowboard the following winter so that I could find out.

I fractured my elbow while climbing, not two weeks after moving to Bend.

Keep in mind, growing up in Southern California I had the opportunity to learn how to surf at a young age. I love surfing, the feeling of being in the water, of riding a wave as far as it can take me... Snowboarding, it turns out, sort of feels like surfing down a mountain. I'm sure people will be quick to disagree here, but hear me out: on a snowboard, your feet control a single board underneath you. Even though you're wearing thick boots, slight movements or shifting of weight are all it takes to control your descent down the mountain. While your weight is more forward on a snowboard than it is on a surfboard, you can almost close your eyes, point the nose downhill, and imagine the slope of the mountain is the wave behind you, carrying you all the way down to the bottom...

I spent my first summer in Bend enjoying everything the town had to offer – from floating down the river in an inner tube to going to outdoor concerts in the evening. When you live somewhere with distinct seasons, you tend to make the most of them when you have the chance. But as summer drew to a close, fall emerged and the first signs of winter along with it. That's when I remembered my vow to learn snowboarding, and soon I couldn't wait for the town to be covered in snow!

Finally, it was time for my first snowboarding lesson. That first day, I had my share of falling, I admit. But I was quick to pick up on some of the basics. A friend was in the lesson with me, and we stuck around afterwards to make the most of the lift tickets and practice our newfound skills on the bunny slopes. We spent that first day falling often and laughing a lot. It was already becoming clear that I was catching the bug.

I took a total of five group snowboarding lessons over the course of a few weeks. Originally I had hoped to complete them in two weeks, but it turns out that muscles can have a hard time catching up when snowboarding multiple days in a row. After some rest, I was able to complete the last lesson. By the end, I was starting to feel comfortable enough to slowly make my way down some blue runs. I was linking turns, falling less often, and having fun. Is this what snow sports are supposed to feel like?

It's now March, and I've been gaining more and more confidence as a snowboarder. There are still moments where I have to sit on my butt in the snow and take some deep breaths before plummeting down a steep run, but for the most part, it's an activity that's fun and exhilarating. Not to mention, a great way to spend time with friends!

There's still time left in the season to go out and snowboard some more, strengthen the muscles I've been building these last few months, but as the days become longer and warmer, I'm also starting to look forward to spring and summer again; to planting the garden and getting to enjoy the river with friends. Everything has its season – and I'm learning to lean into that and make the most of what's in front of me.

Love,

Helena