On Thursday, I went Snowboarding with my housemate, Christine.

We went to Xscape in Castleford for the first lesson.

It was advised we get there an hour before, we got there about 45 minutes before the lesson time and that was about enough time to park up, sign in, rent the clothing, get changed and get into our boots and grab a board.

There were about 8 in the group all together and Josh, our instructor, took us out onto the slope.

At some point between then and getting onto the snow, I broke my thumb nail. When I say broke, I mean snapped backwards and ripped half way around my nail and bleeding. It was less than ideal and I spent the first part of the lesson in pain, until I finally plucked up the courage to tear it off. It hurt. It bled. It was dramatic. But I managed it and then got on with the lesson.

We learnt how to put the snowboard on and how to climb up a hill strapped in with one foot, then we were taught how to slide down backwards, using the toe edge to stop us and control the speed.

After doing this a few times, we were taught how to go down in diagonals on our toe edge.

The 90 minute lesson went really fast and before we knew it, it was over.

Christine and I are both dying to go back and can’t wait to go to our next lesson in the next few weeks.

It was hard, but doable and it’s all about the balls really. You just have to do it and realise that if you fall, there’s not anyway to get hurt.

We were given a card that says we’ve completed the first lesson and the things we can do:

• I can put on and take off my boots, snowboard and helmet.
• I’ve had an introduction to posture and balance.
• I can side slip on my toe edge.
• I can make a diagonal side slip on my toe edge.

Lesson two is heel edge side slipping, which basically means going down the hill facing the the bottom of the hill rather than with our back to it. Here’s the things we need to be able to do to pass the class:

• I can side slip on my heel edge.
• I can make a diagonal side slip on my toe and heel edge.
• I can consistently side slip on my toe and heel edge.

Woo! Exciting.

It was quite the workout too, using your leg and core muscles to control your speed and direction as well as running back up the hill with the board.

I can ski, I’ve been on 3 ski holidays when I was a teen but I’ve never tried snowboarding – it’s totally different but fun. By the 5th lesson, we should be able to go down the main slope on our own.

Have you ever tried snowboarding or skiing?