When I moved to Colorado in 2006, I had only been “skiing” two or three times. The word “skiing” is in quotations because you can hardly call what I did skiing. Yet I’ll never forget the first day I took a snowboard on the slopes of Winter Park, had friends give me about 15 minutes of pointers, and then I said, “Go have fun, I’ll meet you for lunch.” I was committed to try and learn this new sport that so many of my friends had been doing their whole lives. So for three consecutive days, I tried to teach myself how to snowboard. And I fell. A lot. My butt was bruised, right along with my ego, but I remember walking off the mountain at the end of each day a bit more confident. I was making progress, and it felt great!
For the next 7 years, I would buy a pass to the incredible resorts around Denver, and each year I kept getting better and better! I wasn’t ready to drop out of a Heli-skiing down a couloir, and I wasn’t crushing the Super Pipe with all of the park rats, but I could hold my own. It took me several seasons to feel as though I had become “good” at this winter sport. Why tell you this story? Am I about to announce that I’m joining the Semi-Pro Snowboard Cross circuit? No, it is not. It’s to say that while it takes people like me years to learn how to ski on snow, there are people out there who simply need more. People like Candide Thovex, professional skiier and Freeride World Champion, for example. In partnership with Audi, he starred in one of the best freeriding segments of the year. Oh, and he wasn’t on snow for any of it. I hope you like the video below as much as I did.
Smashby's Training Blog 