Roots – I’m not talking about the ABC mini-series.
As the title of the book written by Keith David Hamm says, I’m “Scarred for Life”.
I love skiing and for the last two winters, I’ve been working on my tele-turn. However, it’s hard to ignore your roots.
I skateboarded non-stop for about 10 years (1972 – 1982). I was heavily influenced by the Dogtown and Z-boys era. (Lately, I’ve been looking at buying a new long board.)
During the winters, we snurfed. For you younger kids out there, a snurfer was a small yellow wooden board, no metal edges, no bindings (except for the bike tubes that you nailed on) and a rope connected to the bow of the board.
No steering and limited turns only, just point it straight and ride it out.
Next came Burton boards. Early on, Burton boards meant the same thing as snowboards to us.
Throughout college, I skied (alpine, x-c & telemark), but in the mid-1990s, I started to snowboard again (on a real board, hey where’s the rope?). I snowboarded hard for 10 years and then switched back to tele-skiing.
But on last Wednesday, due to sore knees and an inner force to re-connect, I was back on the board. What a blast. It felt great. I just love cruising down the groomers, carving wide-open turns. It brings me back to my early skating days where we were just interested in walking up the biggest hills and enjoying the long/fast ride down.
Yeah, we spent time in pools and backyard ramps, but most of our skating was spent on the asphalt hills and that’s why I just love the slopes and not the park.
In climbing, they say that you are a product of your first climb. I guess this also applies to skating and snowboarding.
Once you’re in, you’re in.
I will always love skiing, but my heart and soul is with the snow surfing. It’s always a nice feeling going back to your roots.
As the title of the book written by Keith David Hamm says, I’m “Scarred for Life”.
I love skiing and for the last two winters, I’ve been working on my tele-turn. However, it’s hard to ignore your roots.
I skateboarded non-stop for about 10 years (1972 – 1982). I was heavily influenced by the Dogtown and Z-boys era. (Lately, I’ve been looking at buying a new long board.)
During the winters, we snurfed. For you younger kids out there, a snurfer was a small yellow wooden board, no metal edges, no bindings (except for the bike tubes that you nailed on) and a rope connected to the bow of the board.
No steering and limited turns only, just point it straight and ride it out.
Next came Burton boards. Early on, Burton boards meant the same thing as snowboards to us.
Throughout college, I skied (alpine, x-c & telemark), but in the mid-1990s, I started to snowboard again (on a real board, hey where’s the rope?). I snowboarded hard for 10 years and then switched back to tele-skiing.
But on last Wednesday, due to sore knees and an inner force to re-connect, I was back on the board. What a blast. It felt great. I just love cruising down the groomers, carving wide-open turns. It brings me back to my early skating days where we were just interested in walking up the biggest hills and enjoying the long/fast ride down.
Yeah, we spent time in pools and backyard ramps, but most of our skating was spent on the asphalt hills and that’s why I just love the slopes and not the park.
In climbing, they say that you are a product of your first climb. I guess this also applies to skating and snowboarding.
Once you’re in, you’re in.
I will always love skiing, but my heart and soul is with the snow surfing. It’s always a nice feeling going back to your roots.
p.s. My beloved snurfer snapped in two as I was trying to ride some bumps on a steep hillside (behind my favorite bar) during my college days. Rest in peace little snurfer girl.
2 comments:
did you get the long board?
what did you get?
that reminds me
I need to order an Indo Board for my kids
It's still on the "to buy" list, soon I hope.
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