Zig Zagging Down the Hill Heel Side

Today's snowboard lesson had us learning how to zig-zag down the hill on heel side and toe side. This is preparing us for turning which will be taught next week. We graduated from the magic carpet and the bunny hill to the chair lift. I was terrified. I don't do heights well, especially when I am sitting on an open chair with a little bar to hold me in and I have extra weight on my feet (or foot as only one is strapped into your board when riding the chairlift).
I faced my fear and got on that chair (or was told I had to by my instructor which is possibly the best way to face your fear) and rode to the top of the hill. We are only learning at Canada Olympic Park so it's not a massive hill, but was used for the 1988 Olympics so must meet some sort of height criteria. I guess what I am saying is that I was not on a mountain (yet). Our instructor told us we could go down the hill whichever way we felt most comfortable (I chose heel side as I like seeing where I am going) and we were off.
The speed and the feeling of wind against your face was exhilarating. Navigating your way around people and dealing with steeper slopes was exhilarating. Making it all the way to the bottom without falling my first time was exhilarating. I felt so free and cool and alive out there. I fell in love with snowboarding.
Our lesson is only an hour and a half long, so after class I met another girl who signed up through GirlTalk, but is slightly more advanced then my class. We had lunch and then spent the afternoon practicing. This is where I began to fall a lot more. But it was okay because I knew with each fall it was because I was getting more daring and trying harder to excel and that I could just get back up and continue down the slope.

The chair lift still makes me a little bit nervous (getting on and off can be tricky). I am super excited for next Sunday where we will learn turns and I will slide down the hill using both toe side and heel side to navigate around from side to side. I am all about extreme zig zagging!

Next year, after more and more practice, I may even try a jump!