My first experience with snowboarding happened when I was young.
The year was 1996. The Nintendo 64 had come out.
One of the launch titles was a game called 1080° Snowboarding.
At the time, I had never heard of snowboarding. I didn’t know it was a real sport, but the ability to surf on the snow down a mountain fascinated me.
I played that game for hours along with Big Mountain 2000.
And when I found out snowboarding actually was a real sport in real life, well, I just knew I had to try it!
Later in elementary school, my parents allowed me the opportunity to take lessons at Glen Eden.
I stuck with the sport and honed my skills every winter season. I remember my mom use to drive us to Talisman (a ski resort that eventually closed in 2011) every weekend.
In high school, I joined Glen Eden’s apprenticeship program. Where you can contribute to your community volunteering hours required for high school graduation in Ontario. I trained and acquired my CASI Snowboard Instructors certification and became an employee in Glen Eden’s Snow School.
I worked at Glen Eden for a number of winter seasons between the end of high school and the beginning of university.
It was during this time that I met and became a member of a small local snowboarding crew. We called ourselves Step 9. Don’t know why, it just was that way.
We rode looking for adventure, pushing ourselves to the limit and dialling in the most stylish manoeuvres we could perform. To us, snowboarding was about having fun and self-expression. We wanted to butter style across the terrain like toast. This is when snowboarding changed from a sport to a lifestyle for me.
In university, I worked the seasons at Corbett’s in Oakville. It was one of the best jobs growing up. I worked the retail floor in the snowboarding section. I helped customers all across the Greater Toronto Area with all their snowboarding needs. Answering all their questions. And even offering private snowboarding lessons as my first entrepreneurial endeavour.
Snowboarding is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I’m sure it’s the best thing that could happen to you too!
And Step 9… we still ride to this day. We’re styling it easier these days. Taking into more consideration our health, fitness and wellbeing.
UltimateSnowboardingGuide.com is a project I started to share my years of knowledge and experience about snowboarding gear, fitness and travel with others.