Boarding to Live

In my life, I am always asking myself questions to make sure I am living to the fullest: Am I enjoying myself? Am I pushing myself to try new things? Am I taking advantage of every opportunity? These questions are a construction of the way I want to live, knowing I have accomplished things, had fun, and am always open for more things to try.

When I am snowboarding, there is no reason to ask questions. I am flying, living in the moment, drinking in the mountain and the miles and miles of farmland I can see below and feeling the sun on my back. The rush I get from barrelling down the mountain, smooth and controlled, is like riding a rollercoaster. Only I control the coaster, and I’m riding through a  vast, undefined course, up and down ridges, going sideways and backwards, and anything is possible.

I am a beginner snowboarder; I only boarded one day before working on Mt. Ruapehu. But since I’ve lived on the mountain, boarding has turned into an obsession. With each day (or hour break I can get from work) that I snowboard, I become significantly better: I can tackle higher hills, go down steeper drops and let myself board faster and faster. When I first started out, I could only plow and feather down hills, but it was exhilarating to be able to control the board with my knees and hips. Any spare moment I get here, I am boarding. And each day I spend racing down the mountain, going up hills and drifting to the edge of the courses, anything to prolong this feeling…I become a bit more hooked.

Every few weeks on Mt. Ruapehu, they open the mountain after hours for staff only skiing. The lifts close at 4pm to the public and re-open at 4:15 to the staff, and they don’t close until the sun goes down. Last night was a staff only night, and I boarded down the mountain surrounded by co-workers and friends whistling and whooping at each other until the sun hid beneath us at 7pm. We skied and boarded for over 2 hours on a mountain entirely our own.

When I first arrived to work on Mt. Ruapehu, I have to be honest. I thought the people I met who were so obsessed with snowboarding that they talked about little else were a little weird. I wondered, “How much can you really talk about one sport?” But after three months here, I understand the obsession with snowboarding: on a board, you know you are alive. And although I’m not so in love that I am willing to live in endless winters, spending six months in each hemisphere like some skiers and snowboarders do, I feel a sense of accomplishment. I tried something new, and now I can add it to the long list of things I love about life and about travel.