Snowboarding Past and Present

Snowboarding Past and Present
I started snowboarding when I was eleven at my local hill (no mountains in Ontario). I learned on a Black Snow Legend SE, a one directional piece of plastic with steel edges. I was in heaven. I loved the speed and the similarities to skateboarding. I remember hitting up small jump that other young shred and I made on the hill. The big tricks back then were methods, frontside 180 grabs, and backside 180's.
I snowboarded for about a two years after that, main at Centennial Hill in Toronto. I remember going late with my friend Stephan, when the hill was closed and the lights were off. There would be 10 to 12 local skaters/snowboarders who would make huge kickers with snow and picnic tables. At the time I was riding a Burton Cruiser. It was Stephan's old board big and heavy. I remember just flying off the jumps trying to stay in stylish and in control. The sickest local boarder at the time was a guy named Stewart Wilson. He had the sweetest airs oozing with style. At the time I dreamed of doing backside 360's at good as Stu. We would be at the hill for hours.
A couple of year after I began snowboarding I stopped. I stopped for a couple of reasons. First my parents didn't downhill ski and never went to ski resorts or downhill ski spots. Second, most of my friends skated, and skated indoors throughout the winter. The main reason was the cost. Snowboarding is an expensive sport. You need a board, bindings, boots, all sorts of outerwear, and if you have any money left lift tickets and passes. With my passion for skating and my shallow wallet I put down my snowboard and skateboarded exclusively.
Several years’ later things have changed. It started up again with me renting boards and visiting a local ski resorts once or twice a year with my friends and/or my girlfriend. This casual riding continued throughout high school and university. Then I got a job and realized I had money to spend and enjoy life with. What really got me back into snowboarding was a trip to Blue Mountain that my girlfriend and I did with our friends. I used my friend's board, which was way better than any rental board I had ever ridden. That weekend I rode hard and fast. I brought me back to early snowboarding experiences at Centenial Hill. The following season my snowboard obsession began.
As a skateboarder I always snubbed the snowboarding community and the amount of money and time they spent buying equipment and outerwear. After going through buying it all I is fun experience. It’s like Christmas, but in fall. In late September 2003 I bought my first new snowboard. I bought an Option Joni Makinen 161 with Ride EX bindings. In October, I bought 32 Lashed boots at the Ski and Snowboard Sale. Later that month I purchased my first season pass to a local hill in the west end of the GTA. In the 2003/2004 season I learned quick, and truly rekindled my passion for a sport that I gave up on too easily as a child.
It has been a couple of years since I bought that my first real board and my passion has continued to grow. I now have bought another board, an Option Joni Makinen 154 for park riding, and new bindings Ride MIG’s. In addition, I have bought a solid snowboard jacket, Burton Gore mitts, a couple pairs of solid snowboard pants, and continued to buy passes for a couple of southern Ontario hills. All this spending seems frivolous, but it has paid off. I go out riding at least 5 out of 7 days during the season. I have learned tones of new tricks, even the backside 360’s I wanted to do since I saw Stewart Wilson do at Centennial. Most of all I’ve met tones of great people, made many great friends snowboarding, and had lots of fun doing it!