Facing fears while snowboarding: stories and thoughts
Hi all!
I couldn't find much recent here about fears, while I'm sure I'm not the only one who's facing them from time to time while definitely LOVING to snowboard.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and stories about facing fears and maybe overcoming them.
Here's mine:
So it all began in 2018, when I went to the French Alps for the first time. It was super foggy and after a few meters on a smaller slope, I took the wrong side of a slope sign and fell off the piste. I couldn't see anything below or beside me and was terrified to fall off a cliff or something. Luckily my boyfriend came to the rescue and in hindsight it wasn't that steep or dangerous at all. Can laugh about it now 😃 But it took me several seasons to overcome my fear of snowboarding on small trails and with less sight. I wrote the extensive story in Dutch, but you can translate it if you want to.
More recent is my experience with boxes. In 24/25 I decided to face my fears and went for a box in Montafon (Austria). After three or four times of falling, I finally made it. As slow as a snail, but I was proud 🐌
I gave it a try again last season in Axamer Lizum (Austria). I had to push myself pretty hard, because my head was telling me a big nope. The second after I entered the box way too slow (and with a bad weight distribution, I fell pretty hard on my back and had a nasty headache after it. I was happy wearing a backprotector though. Anyway, I couldn't stop the tears and then got ashamed of that. What a ride.
On that same day, I pulled myself together and went practicing a 180 on an easy slope. Again there was a mental barrier, but after some practice I finally made it work. I was so happy with that and super glad my boyfriend made footage of it.
I've been afraid of speed too, but in the years I became pretty good at speeding and carving. Also taking side hits from time to time became more relaxed. But due to those box experiences I'm ditching the idea of being a park girl more and more, especially since I'm 32 years old now.
How do you girls deal with fear? Any success stories? Or when did you decide: I won't try again? Love to hear it!