So there we are at the top of the hill, snowboards strapped on, proper starting stance assumed. I'm with Daniel, age 6, fourteen of my high school students, and five or so snowboarding instructors. All the way up, as we pulled ourselves along on the tow rope, we've been watching the more seasoned pros zip down, with their fancy-print jackets and professional ski goggles, their breezy we've been doing this since our parents took us as little kids to Aspen attitudes.
But the kids at my school - despite the crash helmets, the ragamuffin used gear, mis-matched gloves - they manage to look even more cool - super chill - though I know well that their insides are teeming with a mix of fear and excitement, just like me. I've never snowboarded before in my life, and here I am, a 34-year-old about to try it for the first time.
"Okay," encourages an instructor, "Who needs a push down?"
We haven't had a minute of training. Just a quick "turn left by pushing here, stop by kicking back here, blah blah blah blah blah blah." I am assuming now that learning to snowboard is a lot like riding a bike: you just have to do it, and learn as you go. The difference, however, is that learning to snowboard is like learning how to ride a bicycle at very high speeds and without brakes.
One by one, my students fly down the hill before me. Some fall a quarter of the way down, some halfway down...and some make it all the way down, without a hitch. There are zero tears. There is much picking oneself up and many whoops of laughter.
"Are you ready?" one of the instructors, who is all of sixteen years old, asks my son.
"Shouldn't he start out a little bit closer to the bottom of the hill?" I politely inquire.
"Just let me go!" pleads Daniel, "I'm ready!" He's got that intense and fearless look in his eyes.
"Nahhh...he'll be fine, don't worry." And before I can even protest, SWOOOSH! There goes my son. My eyeballs just about pop out of my head.
How he manages to get halfway down the hill and then fall - hard - but with a hearty ho-ho-ho laugh is beyond me. The instructor runs to help him up to his feet, and before I can wink, he's zooming off yet again.
Now it's my turn...the instructor gives me a push and.... Waaaaoooooohhhhhh!!!!!! I am the bicycle going 100 m.p.h. with no brakes - but I feel so light, so exhilarated. There really are always new tricks to be learned after all. Daniel and my students await me at the bottom, and we congratulate one another with repeated high fives. Our cheeks are flush with cold and happiness.
I'm addicted. I'm up and down that hill several times after that, and each time it gets easier.
I love watching from the bottom: what a treat it is to watch children that are happy and proud, beaming and bright, trying something brand new and finding success.
I'm going to bet that at the end of our six week snowboarding stint we'll all be experts.
We have loads of
persistence, a lot of energy, and a
teensy-weensy bit of patience on our sides.
Let's just hope that our bodies remain intact.