…over a decade ago a good friend gave me a snowboard. He was upgrading from intermediate to advanced in the sport of ‘I can throw myself down a ridiculously steep mountain without dying’ and thought it was time I gave it a go. Whether this means he likes me or not is yet to be determined.
Sadly that snowboard has spent that entire time being stacked on top of wardrobes, buried under building materials and lost in sheds. It has changed from a vivid red to a pale and sickly orange. Its intrepid snowy spirit had been lost, its dull and unwaxed body losing any hope of returning to its rightful activity of carving through snow.
Last week I finally made the pilgrimage up to the Serra da Estrela to catch the last snow of the season. I went to lose my snowboarding virginity and strap that lonely board to my feet…
I learned several things that day:
- Snowboards should be used for snowboarding – it is a good time indeed.
- Button lifts can hurt your ‘tenders’ if you don’t pay attention.
- Tango can ski like a goddess.
- I can snowboard – sort of.
- Always, always wear ‘crash pants’ on your first day.
I didn’t surf today. My arse still hurts…