I Would Be A Professional SnowBum, If It Paid Well

While everyone else is complaining about the snow and asking when Spring will arrive to melt it away, I’m looking at things completely different. I love the snow! I often pray it never ends. Like a child waiting to hear if there is a 2 hour school delay or cancelation, I too rush to turn on the TV for the latest wintery weather report. While most people are bracing for the storm, I’m embracing it. I’m not looking to skip work, but I am looking to head to the mountains. I want to snowboard the day away and to keep riding late into the night. I’ve been snowboarding for about 10 years now and each time I go, I think I fall deeper in love.

There’s nothing like standing on top of a mountain and looking over the earth covered in a blanket of white. It’s a beautiful sight to see. It’s so peaceful and calming. Silent and still. It’s my definition of serenity. I think part of the reason why I enjoy it so much is because its a total disconnect from the electronic world, the world my profession is tied so tightly to. And its a reconnect into the real world, a connection with nature in its purest state. I love the fact that my cell phone often loses signal in the mountains, the high elevation makes no difference. It gives me even more reason to leave it and my laptop behind. I don’t want bothered with e-mails and conference calls. I don’t even want my phone to beep with txt messages. The only sounds I want to hear is the back edge of my board cutting thru the snow and the crisp air whistling thru the knitting of my beanie.

Snowboarding is classified as an extreme sport and while it delivers that adrenaline rush my body craves, I also find it to be incredibly relaxing. When so many things in my everyday life leave me feeling numb, snowboarding makes me feel alive again. While it exhilarates my soul, it somehow puts my mind in a zen-like state. It’s a total workout for the mind, body and spirit.

It goes without saying that spending 10 hours carving down a snow covered mountain in sub zero temps will leave even the most physically fit person with a few aches and pains. However, I find it to be a small price to pay. In fact, I often feel like I’ve just come home from a weekend spa retreat. I may feel exhausted, but it’s a good exhaustion. It’s the kind of exhaustion that leaves you feeling happy, almost rejuvenated. It's similar to marathon sex, but with much more clothing on.

Hitting up the local ski resorts is fun and all, but I need something more. So I started going to snowboard parks where I could drop into halfpipes, slide across rails and grab big air off of launch ramps. That satisfied my urge for awhile, but I still feel the need to progress further. I’m giving some serious thought to taking one of those extreme adventure vacations where they basically drop you out of a helicopter in the Swiss Alps and from there you have to snowboard your way down the mountains. Just the thought of that gets my blood pumping with energy and excitement! The only thing left to do now is finding some friends crazy enough to do it with me. To risk life and limb for the feeling of being alive, being truly alive.

Any takers?