It's Been A While

I was just thinking about this today: it's been a good while since I was on a snowboard. In fact, it's probably the longest absence since I first strapped in. Even the first year-period between my first and second snowboarding holidays was broken by one or two trips to the snowdome, and maybe even the dry slope.

Looking back over the last 12 months, I haven't been on my snowboard since Morzine. Wow. Hopefully I won't have regressed too much :)

I did skate more over the last 12 months, which was something I set out intentionally to do, and had a lot of fun doing. I wanted to see if more than a few sessions would enable to me to learn some new tricks; and it did. Nothing major, but progression was made.

And in the past, I've seen the same small-steps with my snowboarding. Since I started keeping a record, I had 9 and 4 UK-snowboarding sessions in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Although I didn't make double figures in either of those years, a few trips to the Halifax kicker is, and has been, enough to learn a few new tricks and get more comfortable with the things you can already do.

So what does this mean for 2010? Well I'm getting married this October, which will take up a fair amount of time and resource. Plus, I've decided to try a cycling event with some friends in August: the coast-to-coast. Being competitive, I'm planning on training for this. And again, I'd like to skate more...

With those things in mind, I can't see myself traveling down to Halifax that often - but I suppose nothing is set in stone. To be honest, I prefer doing stuff when I can dedicate a decent amount of time. I'm not particularly fussed about making a solitary visit to Castleford or Halifax during the off-season; if it was a choice between one or none, I'd be happy to take none, and do more of whatever other project I was giving time to.

And that's probably the reason I didn't go at all last year. One trip might be fun, but I much prefer a series of visits where I can set some goals and get the feeling of progression.

And that's what I'd like to do again. I'd like to set up a handful of sessions at Halifax. Work the kicker; progress. It's flexible with regards to how you spend your time on the slope, which makes it a great spot to get some photos and video, and generally a great day out. The only problem is the time and money.

So if it doesn't pan out this year, I'd like to aim for double figures in 2011...

How about you guys? What do you do when you can't snowboard in resort?