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MARQUETTE -- When I started snowboarding, I was a downhill skier. I was skiing for at least four years, so I wanted to try something new, and I convinced my friends to try snowboarding with me. Surprisingly, they all agreed to my idea. My friend, Tri, joined too, even though she wasn't in ski lessons.
It was tough at first, but I ended up loving it. What made it tough was that I always fell on my knees, and they were sore for a couple of weeks. I started getting more comfortable in my third week, because that’s when I started to get good at turning and stopping, so I didn't have to fall to stop, I could just stop and stand there on my board. There's a big difference between snowboarding and skiing, but my teachers, Olivia, Jenson, and Eric, told us it would be easier for us because we knew how to ski. Snowboarding also helped my skiing, too! For example, I used to not know how to carve on skis, and now, because of snowboarding, I can go faster on skis and carve on them.
On snowboards, there's a lot of turning. There are S turns, J turns, garland turns, toe edge and heel edge. Heel edge is when you go on your heel and lean back a little bit. Toe edge is when you go on your toes and lean forward a little bit. Not so much that you fall, though. Garland turns are when you make little smiley faces across the hill. J turns are when you start going straight down the hill, then turn on your heel edge or toe edge. Don't go so fast where you can't stop, though. S turns are when you go across the hill on heel edge, then start going down the mountain for a quick second, then turn the other way onto toe edge. One day, when I had lessons with my friends Ruth and Edie, we got to the top of the chairlift, and Ruth asked Jenson, "Aren't you supposed to be teaching us?" and then Jenson replied, "There's nothing left to teach you guys!" It was hilarious.
When I first started learning, we went on the bunny hill. We walked up instead of going on the towrope. Then we worked our way up, and eventually, went on the run, Rocket (It's a black diamond). It was so much fun. Next year, I'm going to get a snowboard instead of skis, and my goals are to go up the Rocket chairlift, go on Upper Rocket and learn how to do jumps.
Olivia, one of my brother’s ski teachers last year, told us she snowboarded, so we begged her to teach snowboarding next year, and she said yes. This year, my mom got me ski boots (I already had skis) because she thought my brother would love snowboarding and I wouldn't like it, but it actually was the opposite. I mean, my brother likes it, but he said he likes skiing better. I'm glad I tried snowboarding. It was really fun, and if you’re interested, I'd recommend trying it. You might fall, but trust me, you're gonna want to get back up.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lucy is 11, almost 12. She has four fish, one dog and two cats. She also loves doing diamond paintings, drawing, reading, dancing, and gymnastics.