Okay, so this is it, my inaugural season. Come with me as I begin my snowboarding experience. Share with me the joys and pains of my new adventure.

Allow me to bring you up to date thus far. I have recently relocated to New Westminster, BC after having lived all of my 31 years in Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. My new place of residence is situated mere minutes (approximately 35-40 I believe) from the beautiful north shore mountains or more specifically, Mount Seymour, Grouse Mountain and Cypress Mountain.

As a result of the move and a certain roommate's winter sport addiction, I have taken on the challenge of committing myself (no, not to an institution, at least not yet) to learning how to snowboard. You may be thinking, "oh, she must be a skier looking to try something new". If you thought that, well....I'm afraid you're mistaken. For the record, I'm not a skier and have only skied maybe four times in my life. Once at age 13, again at 16, and then yet again at 20. See, not even four times. But soon all of this will be irrelevant as I will cease to be able to count my snow excursions on one hand.

How does one prepare to immerse themselves in the task of learning to snowboard? Well, first there are the usual preparations of buying equipment, choosing a mountain, buying a season's pass, and of perhaps most importance, the mental preparation.

The equipment buying was a large task as I was starting from nothing. I managed to find a used ( I prefer the term, conditioned) snowboard for a reasonable cost complete with bindings and leash (?). Next, I made an effort to amass a snowboard wardrobe. Unbeknownst to me, coordination does not equal style in the snowboarding world. If that bodes true, I will be the uncoolest boarder on the slopes. In any event, I hope to stay warm dry and stylin' nonetheless.

When it came to choosing a mountain to call home, I opted for Mount Seymour for many reasons. Number one, its not the most difficult terrain, secondly its closest to home and finally it was by far the least expensive of the three mountains. The last factor was of extreme importance because in order to become a skilled snowboarder one needs lots of practice time on the slopes and because of the affordability, I was able to invest in a season's passes at a relatively low cost.

My mental readiness is coming along. Using visualization and motivational self-talk I am in the final stages of preparing myself for this, perhaps the greatest fitness challenge of my life so far. Other preparatory tasks include familiarizing myself with the equipment, learning to strap into my bindings and getting comfortable with all my gear. I have started in-apartment training which involves putting on all my gear, strapping into my board and practicing various maneuvers, all the while visualizing myself on a snow packed mountain side. My next challenge is to master flipping over and standing without too much difficulty or destruction to my surroundings.

I hope you will stay tuned to these pages for weekly updates on my slippery slope to snowboarding success!

Read my second episode here

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