Winter Heroes

If you asked me these days why to do a PhD in Southtirol, an answer would be certain: skiing!

I didn't manage to go skiing last season, so I planned to take it back this winter. There were continuous talks about snowboarding. Although it seemed that a snowboard is more unsafe and it is harder to learn, we tried snowboards on the first day when we went to the skiing area.

That day I was falling every five meters and spent most of the time getting me up. I didn't enjoy it at all that day. Afterwards I went to sleep playing in mind all this turns and shifts again and again.

Snowboard really seems to me more difficult than skis. After one day of skiing I was already able to go down (not very nice, but acceptable). To achieve the same results with a snowboard it took me three days, and it is still hard for me to stay on the same place, when someone is taking a picture :)

But there are some things about snowboarding I specially enjoy. Snowboard forces you to go technically correct. I haven't tried the skis this winter at all, because every time I find something interesting to work on.

A snowboard is easier to transport. Unless you have hard shoes, you can walk in freestyler's shoes as in regular ones. Falling with a snowboard has also some advantages - you won't split into 5 pieces as with skis :)

With our progress in snowboarding we have inspired many conservative skiers and now more and more people are going to try snowboard.

Skiers are still much faster than us. But should we be in a hurry? May be. Meanwhile, I'm trying to draw smooth lines on the slope, enjoying the views and taking pictures.