Sophie's first time snowboarding

Growing up I loved snowboarding! I started the sport around the 5th grade. I had skied since I was 5 years old but once I saw a snowboard I couldn't get it out of my mind. I begged my mom to just rent me one for a day... and she did! She brought me to Snow Summit, put me on the chairlift and picked me up at 4:30 pm.

Sophie's experience was a little different than mine! See when I was a kid you couldn't just go get a snowboard lesson because they didn't have them.

I picked up Sophie from school and we jumped in the race car (Subaru Outback). We set our direction for Truckee, CA and we were off! We had a ton of fun talking in the car, making jokes and stopping for potty breaks.

The part of the (long) drive was when we got up to snow level. It was great seeing Sophie's face and hearing her excitement about our trip! We finally made it to Truckee and stopped by Tahoe Dave's to get Sophie her rental board.

After getting her rental we stopped by friend's house to stay the night. Peanut and Heather welcomed us with open arms and a warm meal on the table.

We stayed up late playing in the snow, making snowballs, sledding down the driveway and doing things every kid should have a chance to do with another kid their age.

I can't really say we woke up early in the morning, but it was pretty early when we woke up. We geared up and headed to Northstar for the day. The parking lot was packed by the time we arrived and we were ready for our day! Sophie did great with the cold weather and as you can see she is all geared up.

We went to Gondola first and then headed over a perfect spot for her to practice. Sophie did great at getting on her heel edge and learning to stop. She really is a natural at snowboarding. I used to teach lessons and I can see talent in kids; she has it.

After practicing for a little while we moved up to the magic carpet. The magic carpet it a great place for a kid to practice. It allowed Sophie to get a few chances to practice her J turns and work on her stopping.

Overall she did awesome! Take a look for yourself at this video I made for her from her first day!