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While away travelling I visited New Zealand and it was winter!!! I don’t really like the cold weather but I thought it was the perfect opportunity to Learn to Snowboard.
I bought myself a two-day beginners pass for $350NZD, which included free transport from Queenstown to Cardrona Ski Field, Lift pass for both days, all equipment (board, goggles, clothes etc) and 3 x two hour lessons.
On the first day I was a bit nervous but very excited. I got on the bus and watched the world go by for 1½ hours up winding hills to the ski field. Once we got there I had to wait 30 minutes for my first Snowboard lesson because I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I noticed a girl who was also on my bus and we started talking. It turned out that she was also a beginner and we would be in the same group for our lessons. We started our first lesson at 10.30am and I was relieved when I saw people my age and older in my group. The first part of the lesson was spent talking about the board and how to move about on flat land with one foot strapped in. most of my group picked this up fairly quickly so we moved on to climbing up a small hill.
We then moved onto two feet strapped in and as soon as I did this I couldn’t stand up. I found it so hard to stand up while everyone else was up and down practising. I learnt that I need to work on my flexibility!
During lunch between our lessons I practised getting up and down so that I didn’t look like a total idiot in the next lesson. We then went on to stopping and starting using our toes and heels. Our instructor held our hands for the first few times until we got used to the board and got our balance and then he let us go.
I WAS SNOWBOARDING!!!!!
After my initial bad start I picked things up fairly quickly and stayed at the front of the pack. We all fell a few times but nobody cared. After a while of practising we made it onto the beginners slope and started zigzagging down the hill at a slow speed. It was really painful on the legs but so much fun.
On the second day I met up with a friend, Helen, who I had previously met in America and we both had our last lessons. We practised again doing zigzags on the beginners slope until our instructor said we were ready!! He was actually going to take us onto a real slope with other people who weren’t beginners!!
The first challenge was the Ski lifts, they swing round on a carousel like a cable car and you have to get in front of it so it can lift you up into it. If you don’t get there in time they will knock you over! I managed that bit ok and then we watched all the skiers and snowboarders coming down the mountain as we slowly made our way up. As we got nearer the top my instructor said there would be a slight slope to get off, again it won’t stop so you have to be quick. As I prepared myself I lost all confidence and fell over as soon as I got off it. How embarrassing!!!
After that one time I was ok, Helen and I spent the rest of the afternoon going down the mountain thinking we were really good at it. I think we were ok for beginners until my last run. I got a bit cocky and was on the last stretch when my board skidded round and the back edge caught on the snow. I flew backwards and smacked my head on the ground, and twisted my wrist. I went all dizzy and felt like I was going to faint, so called it a day! In the coach on the way back I took my glove off to see that my wrist had tripled in size!! Fortunately it wasn’t broke but very badly sprained and I couldn’t use it properly for a good few weeks.
Overall the experience was worth it and I would recommend anyone to give snowboarding or even skiing a go!!
11 November 2011 at 15:19
Yay to you! I'm hoping to check this one off my bucket list this winter.
17 November 2011 at 12:48
Congrats! Looks like you did a good job in the video! I went snowboarding in Colorado for the first time a few years ago and it was one of the hardest things I've done. Once I fell down, it took every ounce of strength I had to get back up. I was tired of it in like 10 minutes.
28 November 2011 at 17:04
I never snowboard but did ski and kept falling down most of the day; still it was fun.
One of my nephews managed to snowboard most of the year, spending winter's in Colorado and New Zealand for a couple of years. Not for me but it was a great experience for him.
28 November 2011 at 21:48
Thanks for the comments. I loved learning to snowboard and would like to do it again some time. Living in England it is quite hard and expensive to get to a ski slope.
27 February 2013 at 08:52
thistrually amazing place for queenstown snowboarding..superb post i love.......this