Even though it is cold out, there are many great activities to partake in during the winter. In fact, the best part about winter and spending time outside in the crisp air. Afterwards you come in to a warm house, place your wet boots and gloves over the heater vents, turn on the fireplace and have a nice hot drink of hot chocolate (with marshmallows) or maybe a coffee (with Baileys).
So what is your favourite Winter activity #teamcananda ?
Each Saturday I am planning on listing one of mine. This week we are going to start with:
Snowboarding
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When I was a teenager, it was still new and cool. Many of the mountains still didn't allow snowboarders on the same runs as skiers. But now it is rampant everywhere. When you go to the local hill there are just as many snowboarders and there are skiers.
Now I wont lie, I found it very difficult to learn. I spent a lot of time smacking my face off of the icy hill. It was probably 4 hours of pain before I really started to get the hang of it. It is very unnatural to have your feet strapped in and stuck a fixed distance apart. Normally when you start to lose your balance, you adjust one of your legs to help stabilize yourself. Well this isn't an option while snowboarding. You have to use your entire body to try and move your board into a more stable position of location. For this reason, it is a great form of exercise. It is also tough to move around when you are on a flat surface. You have to unstrap one of your boots and do some awkward skating boarding move to try and push yourself along while the skiers are zooming past you. Then to top it all off, getting off of the ski lift is much trickier with a snowboard. When you sit, you are facing uphill but your board isn't. So when you go to get off you have to try and turn your body so that your board is pointed uphill. Don't even get me started about goofy footed riders sitting with regular footed riders (I think any snowboarder will know what I am talking about).
After you finally get the hang of it though, it is so much fun. Feeling the breeze in your face as you carve down the hill is a great feeling. The best time to go is when the weather is very close to freezing with very little wind and the sun is out. You can often get away with only wearing a hoodie in these types of conditions.
When you ride the lift back up to the top of the hill you always get amazing views. It can be surreal at times. The moment when you pull up to the edge before dropping in to your run is filled with awe and anticipation together.
If you have never tried snowboarding and live in an area where it is available, I suggest you book a lesson and give it a shot. I am hoping to take my son Luke out this year for the first time. My wife is taking sking lessons and I may have him take them as well.
So get outside and enjoy some winter fun!
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Darryl (@dadview) is a loving husband and father who enjoys spending time with his family no matter the activity.
He is an active member of The Alliance and teamcanada
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