AN AWAKENING, COMING TO LIFE, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I JUMP INTO SNOWBOARDING

A chill, settling down and sweeping the ground until the air turns crisp and ripe for the falling, falling, speckles of precipitation, carries a voice that echoes my name, beckoning me to jump into snowboarding and heaping upon me a fever that begins to build in my brain. I toss and turn in a dream of on rushing forces, cold, bitter, biting. My mind swirls and the sky drops a veil of misty white until my eyes cloud in a blizzarding haze.

Swirling faster and faster I feel my self begin to fall as a heat emerges from within me until I break out of a white powder like thunder and jump into snowboarding. Moving like lightning, turning, edging, rails grinding, nothing catches me. Outrunning the chill air and sliding through the clutches of the mountain, I leave a trail behind and pass the wind in unrelenting speed.

Riding the air as my snowboard jumps, I'm catapulted beyond the grip of the hill, crashing into the powder on my return. Neither your eyes nor any other eyes can see me move in the cloud of white dust that's been shattered by the stomp of my board landing. A blur, a haze, it's pure motion and extreme speed as I reach a place that very few have ever been with mountain sports.

A sound catches my ear, I peer deep into the blinding powder that cloaks my run. Louder, louder, pounds the sound. A bell whistling through the buzz of my motion, breaking the force that keeps me steady, I waver, I wiggle, I lose control and my senses leave me. Tumbling, tumbling, hands, feet, body twisting; I feel the mountain devour me in one huge, wide, gulp.

THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM

Ring, ding, ding. I rub my eyes and wrestle my contorted body up off of the bed. Soaked to the bone and feeling the tail end of my delirium, I break free of my dreams, only, the visions remain imbedded in my mind and the heat of adventure still swelling and boiling within me.

I look to the wall at my snowboard leaning restlessly upright. In no time, I race to don my snowboard apparel, stuffing my hands in my waterproof gloves, snapping goggles across my neck, gripping my board by the board bindings and heading out into the white wonderland for a backcountry mountain to conquer.

BLAZING, SCORCHING, BURNING A TRAIL

When I jump into snowboarding, I'm fire mixing with ice. The perspiration immediately wets my brow and the snow begins to melt under my board. Fierce is my intent and determined is my approach. I left my fear shivering under the pillowcase and now I stand tall atop the hill in my snowboard boots to make my run. Balanced and poised like a tiger, I bend slightly, assess the treacherous conditions and prepare my descent. A sly and mischievous smirk lines my face. Beware, I jump into snowboarding with a lust for challenge.

Bent tight, fighting the moguls and slashing at the soft bed of white powder, I am scarring the face of this gigantic mountainous monster. With no choice but to move at accelerating speed I dig deeply with my snowboard rail and test every muscle in my body to fit the contour of my movement. My legs and my torso spin together and shake loose from the grip of the changing wind. Howling in my ear, a call beckons me to lift myself and soar amid the falling snow.

My board leaves the surface and the full length of me answers the lift with a twist and twirl that spins the sky before my eyes into a whirlwind of visions. Clouds dance along the foot of my board and the chunky complexion of the mountain threatens to scrape my snowboard helmet. Somehow, I return with gravity pulling me feet first and depositing me deeply into the cushion of the snow. Stretching up, I regain my balance and quickly drop to crash through the high drifts. Emerging in a birth of triumph, I cut and cross to display an almost inhuman ability to settle the disruptions that nature has carved into the surface of the hill.

A PLACE FOR THE FEARLESS

My heart pounds and calls to strength each sinew, each fibre, all of my fortitude. The whispers of the failed and fainthearted that have fallen before me chase me and nip at the butt of my board. A loud boom forces my departure from the trail as the whispers transform into the rolling thunder of snow collapsing from the ledge and crashing in the very space that had just a moment ago been deepened from the impression of my board.

A FINAL BOW

This is a place where outback boards reign supreme. In complete control and a master of my craft, I begin to settle as the mountain gives way to the end of it's steepness and relents to my mastery. On level ground, I glide softly, gently, respectfully, and give the immense giant a bow of gratitude. Although I have conquered, nature has proven to me the awesomeness of its beauty and power. I leave behind me the challenge and surrender to forces that engulf me until my image fades from view and becomes nothing more than a shadow mingled in snow and wind.

Feverish, once again finding myself drenched in a cool wetness as extreme heat spreads through me; I roll to one side but find no comfort. Something slips inconspicuously from the edge of my bed. A scrape and low thud draws my attention. I painfully twist to one side and rest my eyes on the smooth surface of my board.

The room spins; my mind is clouded in a blizzard. I feel a cold, chilling sweep of the wind toss my already untidy hair. In the mist of confusion a whistle emerges, a voice calls shrilly, I'm on my feet, poised for a strike, the blur clears and a hill emerges, I grin, I feel the rush of adrenaline cure me, my feet move, my legs crouch, I leap, I fly, I jump into snowboarding!