Reporter tries his hand at snowboarding

Jan 21 2010 By Denis Brown

BEING sharply pushed from behind is my first taste of snowboarding.

The culprit, Glenshee snow sports school co-proprietor, Tereza Morgan, who is kitting me out with board and boots, explains the shove technique is the simplest way to assess whether a beginner is ‘goofy’ or regular.

“Regular means you ride a board left foot forward and goofy the right foot. When I pushed you, you put the left foot out first, so you’re a regular,” she explains.

“On a snowboard, unlike skis, you’re on your toes and heels. So to start with you have to master that and then have the courage to be on your toes coming down the mountain.”

Today my assignment is a crash course in snowboarding. Weather conditions are bleak, with 75mph gales forecast, restricting skiers and boarders to the lower slopes.

Not exactly brimming with confidence, I join a group of 15 Strathallan School students under the wing of instructor, Andy Torrance, and try not to feel too conspicuous despite being by far the oldest kid in the class.

“Nae bother, just wrap up warmly, give it a go and you should have the hang of it by the end of the day,” he says, unconvincingly.

At the beginners’ area we’re shown how to strap on board bindings sitting down then rolling over on stomachs onto knees before standing up with the board pointing in the desired direction.

So far so good. Next we learn how to use our toes and heels to control the board.

“To slow down and stop, slowly look over your shoulder and let your weight fall backwards as if trying to sit down, and that will turn the board right on the edge. If in doubt just sit down and that’ll stop you,” he says.

Surprisingly I manage not to fall on my first two attempts despite wobbling like a giant jelly.

More than 90 minutes later we’ve relocated to a higher slope where the biting wind and snow has turned the students’ cheeks cherry red, some who are now bored and lobbing the odd snowball.

“I got the hang of it quite quickly, I’m a fast learner,” boasts 13-year-old Sophie.

Meanwhile, our enthusiastic instructor is demonstrating how to lean back on heels to scrape the board’s edge into snow and control a frontal sideways descent. I manage to wing it but am not so successful with the backwards technique, causing some collateral damage among unsuspecting students.

My beanie like a wet sponge, extremities frozen, I thaw out at lunch then skip the last part of the lesson and venture out onto the slopes where it’s blowing a blizzard.

I swiftly realise that the instructor wasn’t kidding about getting on the poma tow being the hardest aspect for beginner boarders. Five times, I fall off the tow – prompting howls of laughter from spectators.

The towie takes pity on me, ignoring the three strikes and you’re out rule, and on my sixth attempt I’m away.

At the top it’s like Siberia, visibility only a few metres, but I sit down regardless, grab my board’s edge and stand up.

Tentatively taking off, I wisely adopt the frontal sideways technique, and zig zag down the slope. I’m just about to pat myself on the back when an icy patch causes sudden acceleration and I shoot off, slamming hard into a wooden fence.

Badly winded but relatively uninjured, I decide to call it a day and trudge down the mountain, figuring my coordination skills are much better suited to Apres ski activities!