Editorial - Opinion
How to Fall
As the first snow hits the Front Range, it’s hard to ignore the anticipation of going down the mountain of fresh powder on your snowboard. But along with the upcoming thrills and excitement of the new ski season, I am here to remind you that it’s not all joy if you’re not prepared or aware of preventing injury, especially to your wrists. As I get older with age, I notice that my body does take longer to recuperate from the same pains from when I was younger. If it wasn’t for me to teach myself how to fall with the least impact on my body, I’d probably have retired and not made it to my twentieth season of snowboarding the Rocky Mountains. Now I wouldn’t advise any of the new powder puffs, or beginners to teach themselves, or rely on friends to teach themselves how to fall while you snowboard. When most people first start to snowboard, you want to learn how to go down the mountain, not how to fall. I learned a very painful lesson my rookie year up at the slopes, and I believe it is my duty to prevent anyone from the same suffering I went through.
I remember my first day learning how to snowboard. It was probably the most frustrating and painful experiences I’ve had in my life. I remember it like it was yesterday, a group of my friends, Breckenridge, me being the only first-time boarders that day. Needless to say, since they all knew how to snowboard, they all took off and I was there alone to figure out how to snowboard by myself. In the end, that first run took me six hours to make it down the mountain. When I got home, I noticed my knees were swollen and my wrists would not bend forwards. “This is not normal.” I told myself, realizing it was from constantly trying to catch myself from falling. I’ve broken my wrist before when I was younger so I know what it feels like to break a wrist, and sometimes when you’re catching yourself from falling, you take that risk of injuring or breaking a limb.
Many studies have...