The first dawn

Adil Latif | Snowboarding- Training to compete | ON 18th December 2008 | 0 comments

It hasn’t stopped snowing since I arrived in Vermont. I have a tough 4 months ahead of me during which I will be training full-time to prepare myself for competition.

In the morning, the first thing Travis and I did was go to the local gym. We went for a small token workout and then retired to my favorite place: the hot-tub!  It was nice and warm and I happened to meet my favorite person, the massage therapist! His name was Chip and I told him to be expecting me!

Over the next few days we picked up some groceries for my warm little room in the Red Fox Inn and I met lots of important people, including the people who owned the local market, the people at the post office, and the person who developed the Vew-Do Board. He showed us his latest creation which is similar to a Vew-Do Board and best of all he gave us one to play with. I will try to get some video footage of me on this badboy.

We got our season pass (the pass which allows us to use the ski lifts at the mountain all season long) a few days after I arrived. However, since the pass doesn’t let me ride on Saturdays (and it was Saturday), Travis thought he would give me a very good warm-up somewhere more gentle.   He took me to the local golf course, which by now was covered with little white hills of snow, and we donned what is called a splitboard.

A splitboard is basically a snowboard which has been separated down the middle lengthwise.  So in essence it is two skis. The board can be joined together to come down a slope and then you split it when you are walking and climbing slopes. Travis had me hike the golf course with the splitboard in ski mode and then ride the small hills in the golf course. I can say for sure that there was more hiking than snowboarding! I realized how unfit I was and I punctuated my hiking with breaks where I would inform Travis I was fixing my hat. But as we both clearly knew, I was saving myself from passing out!

Travis quite aptly named me ‘City’ from that day on, suggesting that I was a city boy who isn’t up to such physical exertion!