"So I said to Butch, you up for shreddin' the gnar this weekend? He said, 'Bro, you KNOW I'm gonna ride that pow.' So Butch and I spent all day stompin' tricks. We had the sickest, crunchiest weekend ever in the history of TIME. What did you get up to?"
Just once, wouldn't you like to say that YOU tore it up ridin' the pow? All it takes is access to a mountain, warm clothes, some rental gear, and the ability to say 'gnar' and 'stompin' without snickering so hard you cause an avalanche.
Snowboarding got its start as snurfing (snow surfing) in Michigan in 1965, using a proto snowboard created by a loving father for his daughter. Apparently taking inspiration from the America-only World Series, the 'World Snurfing Classic' arose shortly thereafter. In 1979, Jake Burton Carpenter showed up with his modified board which included bindings to lock your feet into, and modern snowboarding was born. By 1988, snowboarding was in the Olympics, which was considered by many in the snowboarding community to be hella dope.
Getting started
We should all strive to be hella dope. Snowboarders LOVE snowboarding and they want you to love it, too. Get professional lessons, whether group or individual, to make sure the learning curve is—literally—as painless as possible. The 'Learn To Ski and Snowboard' site has an overwhelmingly inclusive vibe, the ability to search for gear or resorts in your area, and the excellent slogan, "Humans Were Never Meant To Hibernate!" Although to be fair, one might argue that humans were never meant to strap a board to their feet and hurtle down a mountain at ludicrous speed either.
(This video has NOTHING to do with snowboarding, but it is funny, and shows how dangerous ludicrous speed can be. And how important it is to wear a helmet!)
Before you do a single bit of hurtling, stay completely still and watch some YouTube lessons. Even though you may question why this cute couple starts off their video with you watching them from the back of their car, they redeem themselves with some good information over a series of videos.
Embrace snowboarderism. Soon, you'll be chillaxing and butter pretzeling all over some corduroy and making up your own slang. Say that you're gonna go powderbang. Maybe not that one.
