Blogger Paulette Thomas, Chamber Member Staff
I just got back from what could be called 'the best way to start a weekend'.
It all started a few days ago when a new email entitled, “Airboarding Adventure...interested?” landed in my inbox.
As it turns out I had been invited to try an up and coming sport called airboarding. Was I interested? Yes. Did I have any clue what airboarding was? No.
I took a few minutes and explored Boardom Bound's website. There I discovered a a video tagged from You Tube I watched several young enthusiasts speeding belly down on what looked like a boogie board...only they were in the snow. I took a big inhale as a witnessed another take a jump and flip completely over- midair and land with the grace of a cat. What was I getting myself into?
I was relieved to discover, Shelly, from across the hall in our office had also signed up for the Friday afternoon activity. I directed her to the website’s video and watched along as she, too, took a big inhale watching the athletes fly through the air. We looked at each other hoping to find confidence in our thrill seeking partner.
On Thursday afternoon after confirming that I would be attending, I received a rundown of the event: "We will be departing at 1pm. Please bring the following: Snow jacket and pants, hiking shoes, goggles and a helmet.” In addition to all the required gear, I took an extra precaution requesting that my entire yoga class keep me in their thoughts as I embarked on my adventure that afternoon.
As it neared 1pm on Friday, Shelly and I hopped into her four runner filled with adrenalin and anticipation. When we arrived we met our guides Danny and Eric with two snowmobiles. It quickly became very clear that I wasn't going to be learning about airboarding from a training video.
Following a short instructional session that included how to turn and stop, we were given the go ahead to take our first run. I looked over at Shelly, “What do you think?” I asked, “Really, she replied, what’s the worst that could happen?”
With that in mind I started a small run / jump and found myself soaring down the mountain, I was flying...so to speak and I loved it. At the end of each run our Guides would ferry us back to the top full speed for another run. I found that I couldn't help myself; I took run after run, trying new techniques and routes to the bottom.
After a few more runs I realized that we had been airboarding for well past two hours and although I was exhausted I couldn't think of a better way to start my weekend.
Airboarding is something that everyone can do from age 5 and up. There are so many options including a back country package for groups of four or smaller. All packages cover a three hour jaunt, where you can customize your thrills and for larger groups there is enough down time that the whole family can come.
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Click here to book your Steamboat Springs winter vacation!
Click here to plan your airboarding adventure today!
